Crazy Heart

Theatrical Release Date: 2009 12 16 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 024543665960

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Profanity, Sexual Situations]

Summary: A worn-down country singer and a burgeoning journalist form an unusual bond in this drama adapted from the novel by Thomas Cobb. His spirit broken by multiple failed marriages, too much time on the road, and too many nights with the bottle, Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) had started to feel like he was headed down the path of no return. When probing young writer Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) digs deep enough to unearth the broken man behind the legend, however, Bad realizes that redemption may not be such a long shot after all. Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best First Screenplay – Independent Spirit Awards Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Song – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Song – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best First Feature – Independent Spirit Awards Best Male Lead – Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Music – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Music – British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Features: Deleted scenes and alternate music cuts
Featurette: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall on what brought them to Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 04/20/2010

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DHMA null

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: Spanish,French

Region: Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)

Perry Seibert

At one point in Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart, 57-year-old alcoholic, down-on-his-luck country singer/songwriter Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) explains that the great songs sound like you've already heard them. There's much truth in that statement, and it's an apt description of the movie's charm as well. A onetime country star who wrote a number of popular tunes, Bad's career is currently in the dumps. He's on a tour traveling hundreds of miles a day in his trusty, beat-up truck in order to play in bowling alleys and bars with a different set of local musicians every night. His diet consists primarily of whiskey and the easily seduced members of his aging fan base. However, things change when he sits down for an interview with struggling young music writer and single mom Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The two begin a tentative affair, and not long after that, Bad's manager calls with an offer to have him open a big show for Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), a onetime member of Bad's backup band who's now a new-country superstar. There isn't much pressing drama in Crazy Heart, but that's fine because the key to the film's success is Bridges. Looking and sounding a great deal like Kris Kristofferson, Bridges exudes a lived-in weariness. We see in equal measure how four bad marriages and a long time without a hit have turned him into an alcoholic mess, but we also see the talent and the inner fire that keeps him going even when it looks like his body may be too rundown to continue. On top of everything else, he does his own singing, and his voice has a gravelly authenticity. The original songs he sings, composed by a number of pro songwriters -- including one of the film's producers, T-Bone Burnett -- sure sound like country standards. All the tunes are catchy and quotable -- most especially Bad's biggest hit, "Falling and Flying"; this is a rare case where the soundtrack alone will work just as well as the movie. With its tale of an alcoholic faded country star looking for redemption, it's impossible to watch Crazy Heart and not think of Tender Mercies, a fact Cooper is quite aware of. Instead of running from the comparisons, he bravely embraces them by casting that movie's Oscar-winning star, Robert Duvall, as Bad's oldest friend, and it's yet another testament to Crazy Heart that it can stand on its own alongside that classic. Duvall -- who also is credited as a producer on the movie -- gets a pair of scenes to play with Bridges, and their low-key naturalism together is not only affecting for us, but should serve as a lesson for any young actor on the skills required to maintain a decades-long career. There are no histrionics, just two fictional people made flesh and blood before our eyes. Crazy Heart is certainly familiar. It doesn't surprise with its story, but it surprises with the details in Bridges exquisite performance, and in the honest, plain-spoken way it touches on familiar themes like friendship, redemption, and love. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jeff Bridges  Executive Producer 
Leslie Belzberg  Executive Producer 
T-Bone Burnett  Composer (Music Score) 
T-Bone Burnett  Producer 
Robert Duvall  Producer 
Michael A. Simpson  Executive Producer 
Rob Carliner  Producer 
Judy Cairo  Producer 
Stephen Bruton  Composer (Music Score) 
Scott Cooper  Director 
Scott Cooper  Producer 
Scott Cooper  Screenwriter 
Eric Brenner  Executive Producer 
Jeff Bridges  Actor 
Maggie Gyllenhaal  Actor 
Robert Duvall  Actor 
Tom Bower  Actor 
Colin Farrell  Actor 
James Keane  Actor 
William Marquez  Actor 
Ryan Bingham  Actor 
Paul Herman  Actor 
Rick Dial  Actor 
Jack Nation  Actor 
Beth Grant  Actor 
J. Michael "Yak" Oliva  Actor 
Ryil Adamson  Actor 
David Manzanares  Actor 
Debrianna Mansini  Actor 
Richard W. Gallegos  Actor 
Brian Gleason  Actor 
William Sterchi  Actor 
Chad Brummett  Actor 
Harry Zinn  Actor 
Anna Felix  Actor 
Le Anne Lynch  Actor 
Josh Berry  Actor 
Jerry Hardy  Actor 

Country: USA