Crazy Heart. Okay, we get it… he’s a drunk.
I was able to catch Crazy Heart yesterday, completing my “must see” Oscar movie list before next Sunday’s Academy Awards.
Overall, I felt the movie was good, but I agree with most critics who attribute the appeal to the film coming solely from Jeff Bridge’s performance. It was a little slow at parts and I felt like we were hit a little too over the head with his drinking. Okay, we get it… alcohol rules his life.
At one point I went to the restroom (which gives an indication about how compelling the movie was, being that I was willing to walk out of the theater), and when I returned, Jeff Bridges was still passed out drunk like he was when I left… a different scene and yet the character was in the same exact condition.
Besides that, I would have to say I enjoyed it and give it a 3/5.
Download the script for Crazy Heart, written by writer/director Scott Cooper, here.
The “Ok, we get it” factor is definitely something you’d think the filmmakers would be aware of before the shooting started. So I guess I’m blaming the writer. Richard Walter uses “Yentl” as an example of a movie that hits the audience over the head multiple times (women aren’t allowed to read or something like that). His book, Screenwriting, is still the best screenwriting book I’ve ever read.
I might try and fit in reading that script sometime this week because I’m guessing it’s probably the writer’s doing like you suggested.
And I’ll check that book out. Thanks for the suggestion!