Crazy Heart 2009

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: This performance reminds us that Bridges is that rare actor who has never had to make that apology. Crazy Heart lets him be every bit as grand as we'd hope him to be. Read more

Michael Phillips, At the Movies: This performance is as good as [Bridges has] ever done. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: First-time writer/director Cooper is a rare talent; he knows how to keep his story fine-boned and small, and to write a truly complex, troubled character who nonetheless enters our hearts. Read more

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com: When a movie offers you a couple of hours with a drunk, he better be a charmer. And even then, it's a gamble; we've all known charming drunks, but a little can go a long way. Fortunately for Crazy Heart, it has Jeff Bridges, who brings enough charm and ve Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Crazy Heart could use more rough edges, but while it's a little too sentimental and tidy, Bridges' humane, deeply empathetic lead performance makes it easy to root for one man's redemption. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Jeff Bridges' portrayal of broken-down, liquored-up country singer Bad Blake may be the best of his career, and that's saying something. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: You've seen Crazy Heart before -- many, many times, actually -- but it doesn't much matter. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's a mark of how fine a performance Bridges gives that it succeeds beautifully even though the besotted, bedeviled country singer has been an overly familiar popular culture staple for forever. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Jeff Bridges finds the perfect vehicle for his lazy charm and bitter irony in the role of Bad Blake, a washed-up country star trying to climb out of the bottle and put his life back together. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Bridges draws us deeply inside Blake's moment-to-moment heartbreaks. He makes us root for him as we would root for a dear friend. Ultimately, his triumphs become our own. Read more

Christopher Kelly, Dallas Morning News: Is Jeff Bridges the most underappreciated actor of his generation? Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It's a bit too easy, a bit too familiar, and maybe even a bit too much fun. But the easy magic Bridges brings to the screen makes it all work. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Bridges' guileless performance makes this piquant little indie tale of country music, redemption, and the love of a pretty younger woman such a sad-song charmer. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Cooper lets you experience Blake's gradual reawakening right along with him, and Bridges' superb performance -- not the slight plot -- carries the weight. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The movie belongs entirely to Bridges, who won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama. His inimitable Jeff-isms have never been more endearing - the sloppy gait, the whiskey glass balanced on his chest, his general air of discombobulation. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Crazy Heart gets to you like a good country song -- not because it tells you something new, but because it tells it well. It's the singer, not the song. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: If ever a movie demonstrated how country music emerges from private sorrows, this is it. But something can always be done to make a movie better. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Gyllenhaal is charming and makes unexpected choices in her performance, but this is Bridges' show, and he's as Best Actor-worthy as he's ever been. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: It's one of the year's best, most deeply felt films. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Well directed but sketchily written by actor Scott Cooper, the film relies a great deal on the star to flesh out what is only implied. It's a lot of work, but Mr. Bridges is merely miraculous. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Hand the Oscar to Jeff Bridges right now, and let's be done with it. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As has so often been the case throughout his career, Bridges becomes the character. He buries himself so thoroughly in the role that there's nothing of the actor remaining. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Some actors are blessed. Jeff Bridges is one of them. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's a juicy, career-crowning role, and Bridges -- a master of subtle brilliance -- plays the hell out of it. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Gyllenhaal and Bridges are marvelous together, playing their characters' cautious affection for each other as an alluring winding path that's actually laden with minefields. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: This show belongs to Bridges, who starts off as a magnificent train wreck and then takes a journey with the character. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: On first viewing, Crazy Heart seemed like a pretty good movie with one great performance. After a second time through, it's sneaking up on the title of my favorite film of the year. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: You can see why Bridges signed on for this low-key, low-budget character study. It isn't every day an actor gets the chance to pitch face-forward into the camera, dead drunk. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Crazy Heart is a familiar tune, but the harmonies reverberate. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: In a musical genre where emotional authenticity is essential, Bridges is a great enough actor to make us believe these songs could be his own. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Some goodwill evaporates in the final reel, when a few false endings lead to a choice that's not the best one for Crazy Heart, but the generosity of Bridge's performance puts us in a forgiving mood. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: While the film isn't quite the timeless gem Lebowski is, Bridges playing the perennially soused is, once again, spectacularly award-worthy. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: Crazy Heart feels familiar, even comforting, offering few surprises but a wealth of lovingly crafted, immaculately judged, wholly authentic emotion. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Jeff Bridges' character may be called Bad Blake, but his performance is incredibly good, perhaps the best of his career. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Playing a drunken, washed-up music legend reduced to playing small-town bowling alleys, Jeff Bridges is the whole show here as a cowboy-style crooner who wrestles with his demons in ways that easily engage an audience's sympathies. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: No scene feels obligatory, and Crazy Heart shows a pragmatic but tender understanding of the relationship between physical breakdown and the discovery of morality. It's merely a well-done, adult American movie-that is to say, a rarity. Read more