Crazy Heart

So this movie has been sitting on my shelf, pretty much since it was first released on video.  I had to place a temporary moratorium on sad/too real movies until I was back to my regular happy Rick self. 

I watched it tonight, and it really is a very good movie.  The terrific cast all put in really strong performances, except for the incomparable Robert Duvall.  I don’t know what was wrong with him in this movie, but I got the impression that he really wanted to punch Jeff Bridges in the throat (they were supposed to be best friends in the film).  Bridges was perfect, Gyllenhaal was too, Colin Farrell was even really good, but I just never bought Duvall’s character. I hate to think that the great Robert Duvall has lost some heat on his fastball – maybe I just missed it. 

If you’ve seen so much as a preview; you know this movie is about second chances and redemption.  Similar to the previous year’s “The Wrestler,” redemption was the theme:  Redemption of love, life, purpose and  soul.  This seems to be a very popular theme in movies and books lately, and I think it’s largely because of the economic and political state of this country.

We, Americans, have great national pride, even if we don’t like to admit it (ahem – Seattle), and I think we genuinely believe this current economic and political (ahem – George W) downturn is only a temporary setback.  We root for redemption, as we believe it is inevitable. 

Of course we also seem to be fascinated with Zombie infestation lately; so maybe we believe that’s coming as well.