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Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart

Drama · Music · Romance · 2009

When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.

Movie details

Crazy Heart

“The harder the life, the sweeter the song.”

2009 Drama · Music · Romance 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Crazy Heart?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Scott Cooper

Written by

Scott Cooper

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges

Bad Blake

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Jean Craddock

Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Wayne

Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell

Tommy Sweet

Tom Bower

Tom Bower

Bill Wilson

Paul Herman

Paul Herman

Jack Greene

Beth Grant

Beth Grant

Jo Ann

Court is in session

Put Crazy Heart on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.