Crazy Heart

What better movie entertainment for a long-time fan of country music than a movie about the rugged life of a country singer struggling to make a living when his best days are clearly behind him. Over the years, country music fan’s plates have been filled with more than chicken and grits: our Nashville cinema appetites have been satisfied with offerings like Nashville, The Electric Horseman, Honeysuckle Rose, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Urban Cowboy, Pure Country, and Tender Mercies, just to name more than a few.

The latest is Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake, a country singer and songwriter whose life certainly imitates the most stereotypical country song: a life crumbling with alcohol, divorce, broken families, and one-night stands followed by hundreds of hard miles to the next concert gig. We first meet Blake as he’s racing for the bottom-drunk and broke, he’s driving a beat up old truck to his next gig-playing the lounge at a bowling alley. He’s furious at his manager for booking him at such a venue, where the owner refuses him free drinks but offers him the option of all the free bowling he wants.

Our main character angrily rejects offers to perform as the opening act for rising country star Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) whose career Jeff Bridges’ character helped launch. Blake’s boozing also prevents him from earning income from an area he once was successful in: songwriting.

Robert Duvall, one of the producers of Crazy Heart, also plays a small role in this film that has been compared to the aforementioned Tender Mercies. In that 1983 release, Duvall plays the lead role of a washed-up country music performer. It had to be apparent to him and to this viewer of Crazy Heart that we’ve seen this all before.

Crazy Heart is entertaining enough to watch, and contains a number of pleasant country songs performed quite well by Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell. Crazy Heart should enjoy a good deal of attention with Bridges’ portrayal garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He’s worthy of the Oscar nod for his strong depiction of an entertainer desperate for the attention of his next fan, the next dollar and the next drink. Maggie Gyllenhaal is equally charming as Bad Blake’s love interest and single mother Jean Craddock. Craddock is a small town journalist who first meets Blake to interview him, and soon falls for our tragic figure. That Craddock finds Blake in any way appealing is one of the many contrived story lines that keeps Crazy Heart from moving up from good to great-if it was a country song, it would be hard pressed to crack the top ten.

Crazy Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Posted by: jimmmymac | 02-20-2010 | 10:02 PM
Posted in: Movie | Comments (0)

Two by Philippa Gregory

No, I am not becoming a Philippa Gregory groupie. I had purchased The Boleyn Inheritance to read on vacation. Thanks to an hour and a half flight delay, I finished it ahead of schedule and needed another airplane book. Juan Santamaria Airport  (San Jose, Costa Rica) had limited options. And paperbacks that normally cost $12-$14 were selling for $22-$24. So I went with a book that wouldn’t be much of a gamble, and was in the less expensive range. Hence, The Other Queen.

Both works of historical fiction follow the same format: a story unfolding from the viewpoint of three characters at the same time. The chapters are short which, in my opinion, makes a great vacation book. It does seem a bit disjointed at times, though. And also tiresome given that the two books combined total over 1000 pages.

The Boleyn Inheritance tells the story of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, the fourth and fifth wives of Henry VIII.  Also involved in their tale is Jane Rochford, the widow of Anne Boleyn’s brother George. Jane serves as lady in waiting and confidante to both queens.

The Other Queen begins 25 years after the end of The Boleyn Inheritance. Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne of England for ten years. She has imprisoned her rival for the throne of England, Mary Queen of Scots.  This story is told by Mary, as well as her captors, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Bess of Hardwick.

As with her other books, Philippa Gregory has done a tremendous amount of historical research. She paints a vivid picture of life among the nobility in sixteenth-century England. After reading a number of these books, I do understand English history a bit more. At least now I know the difference between the Tudors and the Stuarts and why they were rivals for the throne.

I do recommend both of these books, but not one right after the other.  And now I have to read the two books that cover the time span in between. My “must read” list keeps getting longer. I have three books on my nightstand, and another on reserve at the library. Well-I’d better get to it!

The Boleyn Inheritance
Published in hardcover-Touchstone-2006
Softcover edition-Touchstone-2006

The Other Queen
Published in hardcover-Touchstone-2008
Softcover edition-Touchstone-2009

The Boleyn Inheritance

The Other Queen: A Novel

Posted by: admin | 02-16-2010 | 06:02 PM
Posted in: Historical Fiction | Comments (0)