Crazy Heart -- the movie

David Evans · Post by **David Evans** » 8 Feb 2010 1:16 pm

I enjoyed the movie very much. Jeff is a very good singer and appears to play guitar well also. It seems to me when ever you see country music as a movie theme it is tradional country music they use .That corporate Nashville crap is'nt good for nothing is it?

Olaf Wiese · Post by **Olaf Wiese** » 9 Feb 2010 9:59 am

Does anybody know the name of the song in this short video, start at 00:39 up to 01:22.

http://content.foxsearchlight.com/videos/node/4253

Thanks
Olaf

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 9 Feb 2010 12:59 pm

I hope it's better than Hollywoods two previous attempts to characterize country music:

Tender Mercies: all about cast with little effort given to portray actual country music. The music was a caricature of country music as understood by people who pronounce rodeo; ro-DAY-oh.
Nashville: even worse.

Paul Crawford · Post by **Paul Crawford** » 9 Feb 2010 1:51 pm

You guys got me excited! I can hardly wait for it to make it to HBO.

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 11 Feb 2010 5:23 pm

Is this movie basically, "Jeff Bridges does Kris Kristofferson?"

Not as I saw it: more like Waylon Jennings morphing into Kris Kristofferson.
That said, the acting was first rate. Excellent attention to what actors call "small business."

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 11 Feb 2010 5:40 pm

James,

Just what do you [and actors] mean by "small business"?

First time I ever heard this term.

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 11 Feb 2010 7:43 pm

Chip,
I heard Carol Burnett use the term some years ago. It refers to concentration on precise little things an actor does to show human realism. It can be anything, actually, from blowing on your hands to present being cold, body movements (in the early part of the film, Bridges' reminded me of Johnny Paycheck), scratching hair (and other body parts, etc.), picking nose, etc., etc., etc., you-name-it. Anything goes in the name of character believability, or as often heard, 'nailing the part."

It's always neat to see it done well (and Bridges could be said to have nailed it), and if you're into acting (I'm a community theater fan), there's much to learn from it.

Break a leg (theater for 'good luck'--which you never say in a theater--brings bad luck)!

PS: How's the Bay State these days? I get a real heart wrench every time I think of what I left behind because I didn't appreciate it growing up!

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 11 Feb 2010 8:39 pm

Ah James.

God bless. A former New Englander.

Well everyone in NE loves it. Or tolerates it. At least I think so. NE,ers are tough. They just shrug it off. But I was born here. And later lived in Colorado, Seattle, and Anchorage.

I hate it.

I hate snow and ice. It's goddamn dangerous. Period.

When you got to work in it? That's what I'm gettin' at.
Check my profile; you'll see.

BUT - "small business"? Isn't that what acting is all about, anyway? The fine points? The nuances?

Keep this going. I'm interested in this.

Chipper

Leroy Riggs · Post by **Leroy Riggs** » 12 Feb 2010 8:17 am

The chap that you saw on steel, was Ron Sodos

There were at least two steelers in the movie--which one was Ron and which one was Greg?

In one song towards the end of the movie, the sound of the steel were chimes and the steeler was not chiming. They probably prerecorded this song and Jeff/band were lip-syncing. I wonder if all songs were pre-recorded? Probably so.

As a sidenote, the drummer in the first two songs was Daryl Roades (semi-gray hair, ponytail w/darkglasses). He has drummed for Willie and a number of other singers over many years. He has an excellent country voice when he sings. He is also an excellent stand-up comic that my wife and I have seen several times in Denver.

It was a good movie, lots of music, good steel, but maybe a little weak on depth and storyline but well worth seeing.
.

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 12 Feb 2010 11:35 am

I saw the film a couple of weeks ago and am pretty sure Greg wasn't in any of the film scenes but is credited for playing on the soundtrack (same as Buddy Miller).

Noticed the guys in the film were playing a Fessy and a Mullen.

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 12 Feb 2010 1:55 pm

BUT - "small business"? Isn't that what acting is all about, anyway? The fine points? The nuances?

Indeed it is, Chip, and fascinating to watch. Think of it: every move is consciously intentional, with the objective of looking unconsciously done. Hell of a state, no?

For NE, I, too, am a native but too old now to be that cold and wet, and too dependent now on dependable weather, such as we have here in AZ. Also a hell of a state -- not fit for man nor beast, I tell ya,.

Cheers!

tom anderson · Post by **tom anderson** » 14 Feb 2010 1:53 pm

Best movie I've ever seen on country music.

Howard Kalish · Post by **Howard Kalish** » 14 Feb 2010 8:12 pm

I don’t know if this qualifies as “small business”, but there’s a great little scene that, for me, struck a chord of reality. After the soon-to-be love interest barges into his motel room without knocking, they have a short talk and then she leaves. He goes to put the chain on the door and realizes that the thing the chain attaches to is missing, just like it would be in a cheap motel. I wonder if they thought of that before hand or if the motel where they were shooting just happened to be missing that fixture.

I enjoyed the movie and was glad it didn’t have anything tragic in it like Tender Mercies, which I think was a fantastic movie, though very sad at times. I liked Nashville too. To each his own.

Russ Little · Post by **Russ Little** » 15 Feb 2010 8:43 pm

Crazy Heart is posted on project free tv
just google it.
If you have high speed connection
you can watch it.
Its in the movie section

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 17 Feb 2010 5:01 am

Saw the movie over the weekend and was disappointed in it. I was really expecting to love it, and while I thought the music was good, the story was long boring and obvious. The female lead was miscast (in fact she has been miscast in everything I've seen her in) and the ridiculous "moment of truth" with the kid seemed poorly set up: more like something that could happen to any parent anywhere rather than something that happened because he was drunk. I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars: one star for the music and one star for Jeff Bridges. Other than that, it left me pretty cold.

Bryan Daste · Post by **Bryan Daste** » 17 Feb 2010 6:40 pm

Saw it today with a steel player friend, both of us laughing when the guy's hands onscreen were nowhere close to matching the visuals. Other than that, loved it!

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 17 Feb 2010 8:58 pm

Bryan,

Are you really saying, "out-of-sync"?, Or what?

Is that all you have to say about an otherwise pretty good movie? [as elicited by others here on this topic].

I just don't get it. So some things were disjointed. Gheez, God forbid. That's all you gotta say?

Stuff like that? It happens every day on my great TV COMCAST reception. Drop-outs, black-outs, voice-garble you name it----------- digital sucks!!! TV or CINEMA, It's all computer glitcho-smitcho!!!

Bring back analog.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 17 Feb 2010 9:33 pm

I enjoyed the movie. I thought Jeff Bridges was great.

One could poke all kinds of holes into it, and I can see others points regarding the shortcomings, or "miscasts" as it were.

Probably thinking about it too hard.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 19 Feb 2010 11:01 pm

Just got back from seeing it. I thought it was great. So much of it resonated with my touring experiences. Along with the main guys I loved Duval's caracture and there was plenty of beautiful pedalsteel playing by Greg Leisz. I knew it was him right away by the perfect musical choices he makes. There are a crop of guys that can get close to Greg's sound working these days but nobody has his musicality.

Bobby Burns · Post by **Bobby Burns** » 20 Feb 2010 7:25 pm

I hate to say it, but I didn't like it all that much. It's a fairly sappy story that don't have a lot to do with country music. A lot of the backstage scenes were pretty authentic, and the discussion with the sound man, and the all important stage manager. Those scenes were classic, and bound to resonate with anyone who's been there, but those shouldn't have been the highlight. .Yea I know, the cliche story about country singers all being drunks, but it was more to do about him not being able to make it because he was a washed up drunk. I was expecting it to be about how he couldn't get work because he's an old guy who sings real country music in a world where record labels only want young, pretty-boys who sing sappy pop. You know the old CMA wont let George do his song, so Alan sings it for him kind of story.

I see a lot of movies, and it's sad that I can't give this one a higher rating. I really wanted to like it. Oh well, I guess any time there is a movie about country music featuring old guys, with plenty of steel in the soundtrack, we should be thankful. I give them a few points for using Buck, George, the Louvin Bros., and Waylon in the soundtrack. That they appreciate the music enough to include them, is something I appreciate. I hope the soundtrack sells well, and maybe the original songs will get a little airplay.

I also thought it was sad they couldn't find an actor with a little bit of rhythm to play the steel guy in that one bar scene toward the end. The rest of the guys seemed to at least be listening to the song as they went through the motions. The steel guy, I had to wonder, was he even in the same room with the music? They could have walked into any bar and found a random guy patting his foot that could have looked more like a real musician than that guy!

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 21 Feb 2010 5:30 pm

Bobby Burns wrote:It's a fairly sappy story that don't have a lot to do with country music.

...and all these years I've believed country music was all about sappy stories....

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 21 Feb 2010 9:01 pm

I saw it a couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed it, and I don't like much of anything that's come out of Hollybored for the last 20-30 years. I'm still waiting for the next Humphrey Bogart, and they're all sorely lacking. Ha!

But I thought the movie was really well made and fun - Bridges and Duvall were perfect, the music was great and Jeff sung his ass off, the pace was good, and the cinematography was really well done - they made good use of the expansive southwest terrain and it just felt right. Small business is right - the gritty bar and motel scenes sure felt real to me. They didn't overdo it. OK, the romance with Maggie G. didn't seem plausible, much less credible, but they didn't want this to be a "just for guys" flick, get it?

I was expecting it to be about how he couldn't get work because he's an old guy who sings real country music in a world where record labels only want young, pretty-boys who sing sappy pop. You know the old CMA wont let George do his song, so Alan sings it for him kind of story.

Please, pretty please with sugar on top, please spare me. I think you have to come to the Steel Guitar Forum for that diatribe. I think they got the point across about has-been country singers without saying a bloody word about it.

Marc Jenkins · Post by **Marc Jenkins** » 21 Feb 2010 9:51 pm

Bobby Burns wrote:I was expecting it to be about how he couldn't get work because he's an old guy who sings real country music in a world where record labels only want young, pretty-boys who sing sappy pop. You know the old CMA wont let George do his song, so Alan sings it for him kind of story.

I always find it funny when 'it wasn't what I was expecting it to be' is used as a criticism.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 21 Feb 2010 10:06 pm

Bobby Burns wrote:I was expecting it to be about how he couldn't get work because he's an old guy who sings real country music in a world where record labels only want young, pretty-boys who sing sappy pop. You know the old CMA wont let George do his song, so Alan sings it for him kind of story.

Wasn't that sort of one of the backlines of the story?

He (Bad) kept asking his manager when he was going to get to record some songs, and the manager said he had to write some new hit songs for Tommy Sweet (the young non-drunk pretty-boy), before the label would even consider him doing a duet with Tommy.
So then Tommy Sweet has a big hit with Bad's song and takes him on tour with him.
Wasn't that just like you were expecting?

Bobby Burns · Post by **Bobby Burns** » 22 Feb 2010 4:59 am

Wow!! Go ahead and hang me. So I don't care for the same things you guys like, so what. I'm just saying that the dramatic part of this drama was poor. The "small business" was right on the money and very entertaining I'll admit, but the dramatic story just wasn't up to par. It would have been great if they had put the same production effort into a better story is all. I wasn't trying to start an argument, I was just trying to offer a contrasting opinion, since by the way, a big part of the reason I bothered with this movie, is that a lot of you seemed to love it. I'm happy for you. I think there just might be others out there who deserve to know that just because you're an old country musician yourself, doesn't mean your going to LOVE this show about an old country musician. I thought it was just OK is all. I didn't love it.

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Crazy Heart -- the movie

Crazy Heart

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