Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I did not know that Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for this until I was a quarter into it. I was shocked. The first thing I thought was that it must have been a very weak field, indeed. I love Jeff Bridges but you can see every bone in his body acting as he tries but fails to find the character or a great performance. Too obvious, insincere Kristofferson gravely voice. He has done better and for which he deserved an Oscar. Shame he got one for this, and I imagine he is more than a little sheepish, esp if he is the genuine actor I think he is and can still see through his ego.This movie has been made many times, and much, much better. Tender Mercies, Payday, A Star is Born, Rock Star (even the Kristofferson version is much, much better than this movie, and you get the real guy). Not to mention more recent fare, like Walk the Line and the James Brown biopic (I dare you to compare Juaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash to Bridges here!). That is a list of movies to see and unlike this one, they are memorable in a way that makes you rewatch them. True Oscar worthy performances in many. There is not a creative bone anywhere in this movie. The writing and direction are phoned in. Character motivation is zip, esp for Maggie Gyllenhaal, which makes the relationship between them gross. No convincing motivation for anyone. Colin Farrell is the class of the cast in his small role as Bridges' old student now famous. In a *good* movie, Farrell wouldn't have stood out as much, as the bar would have been so much higher and Farrell's performance expected.Robert Duvall has a couple scenes (fitting, since this tries to be Tender Mercies II) and in one he manages to completely negate and dehumanize a Mexican immigrant. The truly sad thing and why I bring this up is that this scene is completely redundant and unnecessary. Duvall speaks Spanish to a guy he calls 'Jesus', who is pushing a mop pail across the floor. Duvall abruptly says, irritated, "Someday I am going to teach you English!". When Juan or Bridges (I forget and am NOT watching it again) points out that his name is really Juan, Duvall says, "Juan, Jesus, whatever your name is, who cares?" Juan is immediately turned into "one of those". The man is not important enough to be correctly named. Just "one of THEM", even though he is the only one left who is helping keep the bar open and has perhaps known Duvall a while. No, there was no appearance of Duvall being a spacey old coot, just mean-spirited and as if Juan was generic and replaceable, as many see immigrants. Duvall is powerful enough that he doesn't have to speak lines like that, but he did. I am just wondering how desperate Richard Gallegos was to do the role of Juan. They could have written any character into that role. Duvall's character's crusty old wife, a crusty old friend, his son, his best friend, and on and on. To be fair, the doctor who attends Bridges', earlier, seems to be Hispanic (they ARE in New Mexico and Arizona, after all) and that was a very good call. But that good diversity moment was negated with this unforgivable, stereotypical and insulting scene. But the director must take all responsibility for this nonsense, in the end. So he has written a terrible script (not just because of this, which seemed ad libbed, anyway) and directed a terrible movie, shot like a commercial, only slower. We never get a good look at some of the beautiful scenery the movie is shot in. I have lived in the southern New Mexico wasteland and was looking forward to that odd beauty, as well as driving into the gorgeous mountains as you go north, but the cinematographer doesn't allow us to settle our gaze upon the scenery.

Crazy Heart (2009): Dir: Scott Cooper / Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Paul Herman: Engaging country music fiction biography about the things one cannot help do wrong. Jeff Bridges plays washed out country music musician Bad Blake who is reduced to performing small bar gigs. He falls for a young journalist who has a child from a previous marriage. Blake sees this as his opportunity at a second chance at family. Director Scott Cooper is backed with a flawless performances by Bridges who knows how far he has fallen but cannot help himself. He attempts happiness with Maggie Gyllenhaal but after his alcohol results in him losing her son, she calls off the relationship. He must pull himself together and attempt to correct his wrongs through songwriting. Gyllenhaal plays the journalist who interviews Blake. She will form a romance as well as introduce her son who looks up to him. Gyllenhaal plays her as intelligent and willing to pull away if need be. Her concluding scene with Bridges provides great closure. Robert Duvall plays a friend of Blake's who helps him with his addiction. Colin Farrell plays a country singer who once opened for Blake. Now Blake writes songs for him with loyalty in tact. Great effort in creating a realistic view of fiction with wonderful music to bring it heart. Score: 9 ½ / 10

If I had to describe "Crazy Heart", I'd call it a country song that's been thrown up onto the big screen. And I say that in the most complimentary fashion because it's the kind of quiet, worn-down cowboy song that sneaks up behind you and does so without being ostentatious or melodramatic.The cast here all hold their own (between Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell), but it's the star turn from Jeff Bridges that really makes this shine. He embodies the pain and self-recrimination of a has-been performer on the downslope of life. Like the rest of the movie, he's organic and the award-winning performance speaks for itself. 7/10

Although the film is described as drama, it's very much downbeat romantic drama, which makes the final twenty minutes a disappointment.Jeff Bridges gives a suitably unflattering performance as washed-up alcoholic country singer Bad Blake. Whilst the Oscar might be overdoing it, it's a solid performance and Bad is suitably touching in his interactions with Buddy, Bad's journist girlfriend Jean's son (Maggie Gyllenhall).There is as you might have guessed an age-gap between Bad and Jean. Whilst I could believe in his relationship with Jean in the context of her son, as a loving friendship, I found their sexual relationship a little unsavoury. It's not that it's graphic but it's just a bit unpleasant, considering Bad is not only much older than her, he's in bad shape. To be fair, she doesn't see the extent to which he is an alcoholic.As a romantic drama with some country music to reflect the bluesy nature of Bad's alcoholism, the film worked. But- and this is where the SPOILER comes in- the film falls at the final hurdle. After the moment when Bad hits his low point as he loses Jean's son, Jean tells him to sober up and not come back again. He seemingly sobers up pretty darn quickly with no real side effects and whilst I understand that this is because he needs to do it for his own health, the film implies that Jean will one day allow him back in to rebuild the relationship. Eighteen months down the line, Bad has written a nice song (naturally inspired by Jean, although lyrically not seeming to be relevant) and his career is back on track. Jean turns up and what do you know, she's engaged to a 'nice' man. We do see some character development as Bad takes the news gracefully, but seeing as she was meant to be in love with the guy, would she so readily bounce into bed with someone else? The way she says 'nice' also indicates that she's marrying him purely for the security, which makes her a pretty weak character. It would have been much better to see her doing well in her own right rather than a hasty marriage to counteract her troubled relationship with Bad.NO MORE SPOILERS: The songs are a bit samey but not unpleasant. Colin Farrell has a surprisingly good cameo as Tommy Sweet, Bad's protégé.Crazy Heart is fine if you want a gentle downbeat film; it just either needed more grit or more sweetness, rather than sweetness that sours.