In a word, this movie was cute. It was a small, intimate, mundane and character-driven movie with absolutely no aspirations to be anything more. The conflict was entirely internal and the stakes were low as could be. In the hands of lesser talent, this movie would have been self-indulgent at best or at worst, insulting in its stupor. Fortunately, the actors, directing and screenwriting were more than competent and the characters were all instantly likeable and compelling to watch from start to finish.

Take, for example, the guy who should’ve received a Best Supporting nod, Collin Farrell. Yes, you read that right. See, he plays the one-time protege of Jeff Bridges’ character and has since become a mainstream country star. From conception to casting, this guy seems custom-made to be an asshole, yet in practice…. well, he is a little bit of an asshole. But all things considered, he’s still a good person who makes every reasonable effort to bring Bridges back into the spotlight and share the wealth, but never in a way that doesn’t benefit Farrell as well. It’s a really delicate balance to convey a very believable dynamic and he totally nails it.

Alas, it was Maggie Gyllenhaal who got a Best Supporting nod. She didn’t exactly bring anything new, but she still did a perfectly wonderful job playing a committed mother who falls in love with Bridges despite her better judgment. She manages to act opposite him without getting blown off the screen, which is quite an accomplishment (Side note: Her character has a four-year-old son and even he comes off as a charming and well-written character).

Which brings me to Jeff Bridges himself. This movie has been compared to The Wrestler and not unfairly so, but Mickey Rourke played that movie as a comeback piece. I’d say that here, Bridges is more like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, reflecting on his past career to look down from the top of the mountain. The part was specifically written for Bridges and it shows from the very first scene. Robert Duvall produced this movie (he plays a charming and well-written character during the third act) and he could easily have cast himself in the Bad Blake role. He would’ve made it great, but not like Bridges did.

This isn’t the first movie to have an “old man in a new man’s world” premise with the main character going to his grave fighting all the way. The aforementioned Wrestler and Gran Torino already did that very well and No Country For Old Men had it in the goddamn title. Still, Crazy Heart is far and away more optimistic than any of those three movies and both aspects are handled here at a level that the other three barely touched on. Jeff Bridges is given the difficult job of selling this and he does so beautifully.

As a final note, I’d like to say the music here is simply phenomenal. There’s none of that processed, jingoistic, redneck prideful rock-hybrid stuff they call country today. This is soulful, old-school country at its best, wonderfully played, beautifully written and masterfully used within the movie. Additionally, I don’t know if Bridges or any of the other actors were finger/lip synching, but it was a damned good job if they were.