Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is an aging former country singer. At the age of 57, years of alcohol abuse and smoking have taken its toll and the former country icon finds himself roaming from town to town, playing gigs in lounges and bowling alleys. When he meets ayoung report, Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), he starts to turn his life around.
In many ways this film is just another in a long line of middle age redemption stories. I think one of the things that sets this film apart from many of those others is Jeff Bridges. This is the role of a lifetime for him. Now, I will admit that for me, he wills always be “the Dude”, but his portrayal of Bad Blake is Oscar worthy. I also didn’t know that Bridges could sing, which he does quite well. With a strong supporting cast you get great characters to go along with a decent story. Notice, I said decent story. This is nothing against the screenwriter, it is just that this is such an overused theme that there isn’t a lot of wiggle room for creating something truly new.
The director, newcomer Scott Cooper. does a good job of pacing the movie wonderfully. The film is slow with a sober and determined path, exactly the flow this tale requires. Bad Blake isn’t some crazy thrill seeking adrenaline junkie, he is a broken down cowboy, and the direction goes a long way to showing you that. The ending of the film was no surprise to me, and I am glad they didn’t go totally sappy with it. I hate the Hollywood idea of everything ending perfectly with a big red bow on top. Life isn’t like that. Did I dislike the ending? No, there really are only so many things you can do in a story like this, so while I found it predicatble I didn’t find it disappointing. This is one of my favorites from 2009, and Bridges will hopefully get that elusive trophy soon, 4 1/2 Axes.