What Crazy Heart lacks in originality it more than makes up for with performance, Jeff Bridges is deservedly the leading contender for awards glory in the coming weeks.

Bad Blake (Bridges) is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man's crazy heart.

In many ways this 'against-the-odds' drama is very much by the numbers, not only that but it is also very safe. Bad Blake is a likable and comedic drunk... a washed up has been who is utterly self-aware of his own unimportance. This means that we rarely get to see anything trouble him, even when his life is in danger he merely laughs it off. The romantic sub-plot feels forced into the story and far too convenient to convince, and although Gyllenhaal does well with an under-written character she really can't add much to the story. And yet despite its faults, the film is a triumph... thanks in no small part to the leading man.

Actually add Colin Farrell to the list of positives in this movie, he excels as a student of Blake who has gone on and found fame with a more commercial brand of country music. You worry early on that this relationship between the pair will be toxic and cause the main conflict in the film, which would have been problematic as it would have been utterly predictable. But to the film's credit what we get instead is a genuine relationship of respect between two generations of musicians trying to make do with the opportunities presented to them.

Just as The Wrestler last year required no prior knowledge of sports entertainment to be enjoyed, so Crazy Heart thankfully requires no intricate awareness of the dirge that is modern Country Western music. Blake is from the old-school, so his pop songs are more akin to Johnny Cash, whereas we also get to sample some of the more contemporary sounds... which are interminable. This is actually a strength in the film however, as the story never passes judgment but instead lets you make up your own mind about commercialism and its impact on art.

The trump card is of course The Dude himself... Jeff Bridges proves once more to be as reliable on screen as any other actor working today. You believe him entirely as the writer coming out with poetic prose or the jaded performer struggling to put together a coherent show for a handful of equally sloshed 'fans'. It's a great turn from Bridges and he works well with all the other actors, including Robert Duvall who plays Blake's regular bartender. This is odd because for a story of redemption you might wonder what the man who served to fuel the main protagonists alcoholism is doing by his side on the road to recovery... but it works.

A lighter entry into the flawed character on a road to recovery genre, Crazy Heart is still entertaining and worth-watching.

Rating: ****

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall
Director: Scott Cooper
Writer: Scott Cooper
Release date: 19 February 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 114 mins

Official UK website: www.crazyheartmovie.co.uk

Check out our interview with Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler for another character trying to fight back.

Review: Cassam Looch