Crazy Heart, a Jeff Bridges Oscar vehicle?

[Smarmy Douche]

http://incontention.com/?p=10507

http://incontention.com/?p=10440


He’s considered by many to be one of the great American actors but it’s easy to understand why he hasn’t ever come close to winning the big one. He’s effortless onscreen or appears to be which amounts to the same thing. Other actors huff and puff away to achieve greatness but Bridges just seems to stroll right up to it, casually running his fingers through his hair. While this doesn’t make his work any less than wonderful it does make it more invisible when it comes time for the industry back-patting. We saw this recently with The Door in the Floor in which he was just superb as a selfish womanizing author (my vote for Best Actor of 2004). He received not one nomination for his work… only a career tribute trophy from the National Board of Review.

The tentative Spring release seems strange, but if Bridges' performance is truly great, I can't see Fox Searchlight missing this opportunity. I'd like to see a trailer for this thing.

[corran horn]

I was really happy when Fox Searchlight picked this up. Being a fan of much of the cast (Bridges, Farrell, Gylenhaal, and Duvall) and of country music (or at least the Cash/Jennings/Nelson/Haggard-era), I can't wait to see this.

Neither article mentions it, but T Bone Burnett, the guy who taught Witherspoon and Phoenix to sing for Walk The Line, is working on the film as well. Jeff Bridges singing.....that alone is worth the price of admission.

[corran horn]

Some big updates about this:

After some extremely positive press screenings, Fox Searchlight is moving Crazy Heart up to a December limited release. Word is that Bridges gives one of the best performances of his career (which is saying a lot).

Here's a couple of reactions from that screening:

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-11-awards-campaign-2009/posts/jeff-bridges-jumps-in-to-the-best-actor-race-with-crazy-heart

http://incontention.com/?p=16772#comments

That You-Tube video on the second site seals the deal for me.

[QUENTIN]

From InContention:
He received not one nomination for his work… only a career tribute trophy from the National Board of Review.

That's not right. He's been nominated four times actually, for Starman, The Contender, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and The Last Picture Show.

I agree with that guy that he was excellent in The Door in The Floor though, and Fearless, Lebowski, Tucker, Fat City, and The Iceman Cometh which didn't secure noms.

Having seen Up in The Air, I think he's got some very stiff competition from Clooney, not to mention Freeman doing Mandela, and what many are calling Duvall's best-ever work in Get Low, but I wouldn't mind seeing him finally snag a win and am looking forward to this movie based on everything I've read.

Anyone else getting a strong Tender Mercies vibe from the description? Washed up alcoholic country singer tries get his life back on track, young female reporter plays pivotal role. It's the same synopsis. That movie also had a tour-de-force central performance, which of course won Duvall the Oscar, so either that bodes well for Bridges's chances or voters will be feeling deja vu.

[Natty]

Anyone else getting a strong Tender Mercies vibe from the description?

Only heard about this film for the first time today on wikipedia and that's exactly what I thought, a Tender Mercies update. I haven't seen any of his Oscar-nominated work but I'd be happy to see Bridges take the golden boy home for this.

Give us that trailer dammit!

[ericdraven]

they said Grace Is Gone was John Cusacks best peformance in his whole career, yet he got zilich in oscar nominations. I mean, yeah I love Bridges but he is too seemingly underground for the academy.

[Natty]

I mean, yeah I love Bridges but he is too seemingly underground for the academy.

As Quentin pointed out, he has actually been nominated four times before. So it's possible...

[QUENTIN]

they said Grace Is Gone was John Cusacks best peformance in his whole career, yet he got zilich in oscar nominations.

Yeah, it's hard to tell at this point whether Bridges will emerge as the guy to beat or be another:

John Cusack in Grace is Gone
Frank Langella in Starting Out in The Evening
Jeff Goldblum in Adam Resurrected
Paul Giamatti in American Splendor
Jeff Daniels in The Squid and The Whale
Kevin Bacon in The Woodsman
Liam Neeson in Kinsey
Javier Bardem in The Sea Inside
Bridges himself in The Door in The Floor
etc.

example of established actors that got lots of talk generated about giving their best performance yet and being a shoo-in for the Oscars but wound up being more Independent Spirit.

[NathanRomano]

I love Jeff Bridges, and would love to see him snag an Oscar, but I'd love seeing this film more.

[corran horn]

Anyone else getting a strong Tender Mercies vibe from the description?

When I first heard about this film, that was the first thing I thought of. Heck, Robert Duvall is in both of them, so that makes the parallel even stronger.

I would note that, unlike the other people QUENTIN listed, Bridges has already been nominated four times previously. The others, apart from Neeson and Bardem, had yet to receive one nomination when those films came out.

As for a trailer, I presume Fox Searchlight is working on one right now for release either this coming week or the following one.

[corran horn]

No trailer yet, but we do have a poster now.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/11/13/check-this-out-official-poster-for-jeff-bridges-crazy-heart/

[Powerslave]

Trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/crazyheart/

[corran horn]

Let's see that's a release date, a poster, and a trailer all in the span of two weeks. That might be a record!

Can't wait to see this and buy the soundtrack!

[Monotreme]

Trailer looks great. This looks like a very tender and genuine film. And Bridges looks great. Besides, a soundtrack by T-Bone Burnett is always a blessing - I've been obsessed with the Cold Mountain soundtrack ever since it came out.

[rocknblues81]

Looks like a mix of The Wrestler and Walk the Line.