Why do so many people listen to music, and in our case, country music? It’s simple of course; we listen because on some level we can relate to the lyrical picture being painted. Life is about where you have been, where you are going, and perhaps most importantly what you learned both good and bad from yesterday that will help make today a better day.
“Crazy Heart” is a movie that maps out the crossroads of generations while pulling the curtain back to expose the dark and smokie carnage the music business can leave behind. Bad Blake, played by Jeff Bridges, is a singer trying to survive today by living off yesterday. Bad Blake is a harsh reminder that for those who choose this business, the road does in fact go on for ever and the party never completely ends, it’s just that eventually it goes on without you. In a lot of ways, the character of Bad Blake visually resembles a mix of Kris Kristofferson and the late Waylon Jennings. This is not to say that the character is based on them, rather I would say it is unfortunately a simple yet intense example of a story that has been lived many times. Jeff Bridges provides a more than convincing effort.
Actors are like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. Take a simple 1,500 square foot home and drop it into Beverly Hills and it will look like something scraped off the bottom of a cowboy boot. Take that same home and set it down in a nice middle class neighborhood and it will have all the charm in the world. Maggie Gyllenhaal was perfectly cast as Jean Craddock, a writer who is searching to discover the real Bad Blake and along the way manages to find more than she ever imagined. If you felt like she was miscast in “Dark Knight” then you will love her in “Crazy Heart”.
Next time you get outside of town on a clear night, take a minute and look up at all the beautiful stars in the sky, and if you are lucky maybe you will see a shooting star. Why is it that the stars themselves garner only quiet and subdued admiration while the site of a shooting star will make us all ten years old again as we excitedly call out its rare appearance? I would wager it’s because we take for granted the steadiness of constellations which in turn makes us take notice of something unique like a bright star shooting across the heavens.
TXRDR could not offer a review of this movie without including some discussion about our star of the movie, Ryan Bingham. Knowing that Ryan played a major role in writing the title track of the movie, “Weary Kind”, I looked up at the screen expecting one thing and came away with much more. As noted earlier, the lead character visually resembled the great Kris Kristofferson. Let it be said that Ryan Bingham will be his generation’s rendition of Mr. Kristofferson. Not that Ryan is currently on the same level, it’s just that he has “it”, that thing that makes unsuspecting people stand up and take notice. You combine his “it” quality with the fact that people all over the world are discovering him both on stage and screen and it’s easy to see that he has only scratched the surface of a well filled with tremendous potential. It’s ironic that a movie about a broken down musician who’s lived life from easy to hard would star a musician that has lived the life of Bad Blake, only in reverse. Here is to hoping this will continue to be the case for Ryan and many others.
I will assume that if you are on this site then you are a fan of Texas Red Dirt Music, and if that is the case then I will hope that regardless of your age you have or will expand yourself by experiencing today’s up and comers while showing some respect to the trailblazers of yesterday. Very few things are wholly original anymore with some artists borrowing a riff or a line from another, or unintentionally allowing the mental marinade of great music to give flavor to their contributions, we can all be thankful for those that have come before us and what they continue to leave behind.
Just as pre-driving teenagers have to watch those gory movies about auto accidents, singer songwriters should have to watch “Crazy Heart”. It’s all fun and games when you’re ten feet tall and bullet proof, but it’s brutally harsh and unforgiving when you’re flat on your back and the regrets of yesterday begin to outnumber the opportunities for tomorrow’s repentance. For those who consider themselves to be more than a casual observer of Texas Red Dirt Music, “Crazy Heart” may leave you with mixed emotions, but as the song says, “ This ain’t no place for the weary kind.”
~Russell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelvaxvTaUk
Here's the link to Ryan playing the title track from the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelvaxvTaUk