The actor is so "Bad" in "Crazy Heart" that accolades and awards keep piling up
By Carl Kozlowski
Photo by Lorey Sebastian
While rock ‘n’ roll has given the world more world-class rebels than any other type of music, there has also been a wild and crazy streak in many of the biggest names in country music. Performers such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson have created a mystique and a massive following by combining hard living with unforgettable tunes and meaningful lyrics. A fictional version of a hard-living and sweet singing country music star has recently been brought to the screen in the film “Crazy Heart.” Staring four-time Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges, it is clearly one of the most powerful performances of the actor’s 30-year career. At press time, Bridges has received numerous accolades for his work in “Crazy Heart” including a Golden Globe nomination – a harbinger that another Oscar nomination may follow. In “Crazy Heart,” Bridges, along with co-stars Robert Duvall and Maggie Gyllenhaal, hits a cord with the over-50 audience by presenting a highly entertaining, moving and downright relatable tale of a man who, while past the half-century mark, still has a lot of living left to do. “There were so many wonderful elements to this one,” says Bridges. “Music, for one, comes to mind. I’ve been playing music since I was a kid so that was a big draw for me. I also loved the script. Then there’s Bad Blake, who’s such a human guy. He’s like all of us, with lots of positive qualities and plenty more faults.” In the film, written and directed by first-time filmmaker Scott Cooper, Bridges plays singer Bad Blake, who was once a country music superstar. With his glory days now long gone, Bad is scraping to get by. His life consists of relieving himself in a water bottle to avoid bathroom stops while driving his 1978 Chevy Suburban from gig to gig. He sleeps with whatever woman is available in the flea-bitten motels in which he stays, plays rundown bowling alleys and dive bars, and comes to the stage for most shows in a drunken stupor. That all changes when Bad meets Jean, a young, single mother played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. As their relationship develops the couple is forced to confront their pasts, and decide how to face their futures. While Bad Blake conjures up the image of the legendary Kris Kristofferson, Bridges claims he didn’t base the role on any one person but rather on numerous musicians. “Kris and I are friends,” says Bridges. “We met on a movie we did 30 years ago – “Heavens Gate.” That’s also where I met (“Crazy Heart” producers and song composers] T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton. We had a lot of wonderful jam sessions over six months with those guys, and Kris kept lining up his musical friends to work on the film.” Bridges says he was most inspired by Bruton who died of cancer during the filming of “Crazy Heart” and to whom the film is dedicated. “His life paralleled Bad’s even to the point he gave us the suggestion that when he traveled hundreds of miles in a day he’d relieve himself by peeing in an empty bottle,” laughs Bridges. “When I heard that I said, “Oh dude, that’s in there!’ Waylon Jennings and Bob Dylan also inspired it. T-Bone made a graph of the people Bad might have listened to, including Leonard Cohen. Bad listened to all kinds of music. He’s a music lover, so he’d even listen to jazz by Ornette Coleman.” Bridges says despite the fact that playing Bad proved to be somewhat emotionally draining, he has always been good at keeping things in perspective by distancing himself from his characters. As Bad deals with becoming responsible for the first time as he nears the age of 60, he has to shed layers of irresponsible behavior in the process. Bridges dug deep to help his character make that transition but says he is no Method actor – meaning he doesn’t feel a need to “live” the role when the cameras stop rolling. “I don’t know if I ever left Jeff,” he says. “I don’t really consider myself one of those actors who takes his roles home with him.” Bridges says his wife, Susan, has been known to roll her eyes when he makes that claim. “Maybe,” he says in response to his wife’s reaction. “But I don’t think I do.” Aside from battling alcoholism, Bad also has to learn to deal with Jean on a mature, sober level. Not an easy thing to do for a man who has spent his entire life perfecting irresponsible behavior and destroying four marriages along the way. In one scene, when Jean’s son is left in his care, he temporarily loses the boy while engaged in a drink. When Jean learns of this (spoiler alert) she sadly comes to terms with the fact that there is no future for her and Bad. This stark level of emotional intimacy and serious emotional depth is a rarity in today’s films that seem compelled to deliver multi-million dollar flashy effects. In today’s Hollywood getting a film like “Crazy Heart” made truly has its challenges says Robert Duvall. “I don’t know what the answer is, in whether Hollywood will keep trying to win over middle America or just go extra stupid and accessible,” says Duvall who won a 1983 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a country singer seeking redemption in “Tender Mercies.” “Making $100-million movies that are going to fail instead of doing ten $10-million movies, and really trying things, show that (we) are fresh out of ideas. The entities making really artistic films are dwindling to nothing due to the economy. In the ‘70s, indie filmmaking was within the establishment and now it’s on the outside. People will always enjoy humane movies with a feel good ending and maybe they’ll get back to making more of those.” The fact that the realism of “Crazy Heart” has been embraced by critics and audiences alike proves that some of today’s moviegoers do appreciate a film that deals with the truth rather than special-effect-laden, contrived, sugar-coated stories. Gyllenhaal says she feels that the film’s magic can be found in its unlikely and complicated romance. “What attracts anyone to each other? I think people are often attracted to those who aren’t always good for them,” says Gyllenhaal, who is married to actor Peter Sarsgaard and the mother of two young children. “I think these people are ultimately good for each other – truly love each other. But I’ve been attracted to people who were terrible in all sorts of ways. I worked through it sometimes, and sometimes not. That’s really human and real, and I think that’s part of why the movie is so good – because they are unlikely lovers.” For Bridges, the film gives him pause to consider his own 33-year marriage – a record breaker in Hollywood. “I’d have to say that there are a lot screwups and a lot of redemption in marriage, especially in forgiveness,” Bridges opines. “You learn that when you’re with someone more than three decades.” With a marriage and a career going strong, Bridges gives credit to his wife for keeping his family together. “My mother was the rock that held our family together, and my wife is a lot like my mom, also holding it together.” Along with referencing his mother, Bridges also mentions his father when he speaks of how he has come to understand how important it is for him to diversify the types of roles he accepts. “My dad (the late actor Lloyd Bridges) comes to mind. I take a lot of my cues from the way he ran his career,” recalls Bridges, whose brother Beau is also an established actor. “My father was a wonderful actor, very versatile, but I saw the frustration he had doing a series in the ‘60s called “Sea Hunt.” He did it so well that he’d get a lot of scripts, but they’d all be of skin divers because they thought he WAS a skin diver due to the show. It drove him crazy. He had studied Shakespeare and he replaced Richard Kiley in “Man of La Mancha” on Broadway,” Bridges explained. “Playwright Meredith Wilson wanted my dad to play the lead on Broadway in “The Music Man.” I remember them coming over to my house to play over the score with my dad. He developed a really strong persona (as Mike Nelson in “Sea Hunt”) but it limited him (so) I’ve worked really hard not to do that.” * Carl Kozlowski is the winner of the world-famous Laugh Factory’s “America’s Funniest Reporter” contest. His book “Seize the Day Job! The Humor Book Al-Qaeda Kept You from Reading”
