Crazy Heart OST

"Life, unfortunately"

If you haven't seen Crazy Heart yet, you should.  If you haven't heard of Crazy Heart yet, I don't know where you've been (Jeff Bridges is nominated for an Oscar, come on).  Seldom do I go see a movie and after having seen it say, "I have to have that sound track."  In fact, its only happened with three movies: Atonement, Wanted, and Crazy Heart.  Atonement has a great score and is a really beautiful soundtrack.  I originally got the Wanted sound track because at the very start of the song it has a NIN song from "With Teeth".  Unfortunately, that song isn't on the OST, and everything else in it isn't particularly intriguing.  Crazy Heart was the third.  To give you a bit of a feel for the movie, it stars Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake, a washed up country star who has resorted to singing in bars and bowling alleys.  Another young country star, Tommy (Colin Farrell), is Bad Blake's protege, supposedly learned everything he knows from Bad Blake, and is a huge country star.  Blake refuses to write new songs and therefore continues to play his old hits, none of which can snag him an up scale venue.  Blake also deals with a drinking problem through out the entire movie, which, if anyone has seen it, reminds viewers of last year's academy hit "The Wrestler".  Later in the movie he meets Jean Craddock, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is an aspiring journalist.  When she asks him where his his songs come from, Bad Blake simply responds, "Life, unfortunately," as he pours himself a bottle of whiskey.

The OST for Crazy Heart has an incredible compilation of songs from both the actors in the movie as well as several country stars, including Buck Owens, The Louvin Brothers, Ryan Bingham, Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt, Sam Phillips, and a special appearance by Lightnin' Hopkins, a country blues artist from the late 50s to the late 60s.  The originals from the movie are done by Jeff Bridges, Collin Farrell, and an a capella performance by Robert Duvall.  To start out, I need to say that anyone who knows me will say that I listen to any type of music except for country.  I still hold true to that for the most part; I can't stand the twangy, ear bleeding non-sense.  However, for the most part, all of the country in the Crazy Heart OST I really enjoy.  I think the reason for that is because all but one of the artists (Ryan Bingham) are older country artists, which is definitely more tolerable, at least for me.  The use of these older country artists like Buck Owens and Waylon Jennings really helps to develop the character of Bad Blake.  In the movie, Gyllenhaal conducts an interview with Bridges, asking him who his influences are.  With about a 20-30 year age difference, he lists a few artists she's never heard of.  Bad Blake is true to his old country roots and this can be heard in all of the original songs by Jeff Bridges in the OST. 

The order of the songs also leads you through the story line: in the beginning of the movie, Bridges is happy with his life and refuses to change, which can be heard in the upbeat song "Somebody Else"; he then has to confront issues with his relationship to both Tommy (Ferrell) and Jean (Gyllenhaal), represented by the song "Fallin' & Flyin'"; finally, the second to last song of the album, "Brand New Angel," reflects Blake's difficulty in confronting his long present alcoholism.  Jeff Bridges does an incredible job with each performance and if I had heard this before seeing the movie, not knowing who Jeff Bridges was, I would think he was an old time country star.  Collin Ferrell does a subpar performance with all of his songs, but as far as his character in the movie, Tommy, goes, he does an excellent job.

The album really leads you through the story of Crazy Heart, using Jeff Bridges' songs and Collin Ferrell's, accompanied by Robert Duvall's solo as a means.  The other songs, however, don't detract from this storyline.  After having seen the movie, they really connect to each other and fill in the Bad Blake-less gaps.  The most striking artist among these, however, has to be Lightnin' Hopkins.  Not only is he the only African American artist in the OST, but he's the only true blues artist (in fact, I would call him strictly a blues artist before I would call him a country blues artist).  His song, "Once A Gambler" expresses a huge amount of emotion, and really foreshadows the coming confrontation Bad Blake is going to have with his alcoholism, relating Hopkins' own gambling problem.  

The most stand out performances among the actors definitely has to be Jeff Bridges "Brand New Angel" and Robert Duvall's "Live Forever".  Robert Duvall, surprisingly, does a great job with his solo.  His character, Wayne, is the sole support for Bad Blake getting over his alcoholism.  This song really brings the listener back to ground and coveys a strong, wise message that is crucial for Bad Blake within the movie.  This would have to be the most surprising and most profound song within the entire OST.  "Brand New Angel" is a beautiful song, with a somber blues feels, but also a touch of hopefulness.  Jeff Bridges really keeps true to Bad Blake's old country inspiration in this song, really emulating Sam Phillips.  It not only represents old country, but also portrays the character of Bad Blake, who he is, and his story all in one.

The only thing that bothers me in this OST is the repetition of songs.  The song "I Don't Know" is played twice, once by Ryan Bigham and once by Jeff Bridges (personally, if I had to choose between the two, I would choose Bridges' version). These two versions of "I Don't Know" are only separated by one song, "Fallin' & Flyin'," which is also played twice, once by Jeff Bridges and another as a duet by Collin Farrell & Jeff Bridges.  The version of "I Don't Know" by Ryan Bingham and the version of "Fallin' & Flyin'" with just Jeff Bridges, although they covey a more in depth message in concerns to the story line, are a bit useless and redundant; keep the duet and the original by Jeff Bridges.  Overall, that's the only real complaint I have about the album and Jeff Bridges does an incredible job.  Him, coupled with the old country stars and the outstanding Lightnin' Hopkins, really make this a joy to listen to and bring me closer to being a country fan... maybe.  The Metacritic score for this album was an 83, but I'm going to have to give it an 88.

Take a listen here.