Bridges, Grace and Knowing

Not a movie nut, but it was great to see Jeff Bridges pick up the Best Actor Oscar for Crazy Heart. His performance was ever so subtle. It would have been both tempting and easy to paint Bad Blake in broad strokes as the washed-up has-been and stay there. Instead, he plays with Bad’s flaws as footnotes in his path of redemption.

When Medicine tells him to stop to drinking and shitting his life down the toilet, it takes loss – that very Country preserve – to help him regrow his self-respect and move on.

For me the best part of the performance was the subtlely of Blake’s physical ticks. I could see a hundred people I know in the grace off his gait or wistful glance. Flashes of my father in the hospital in that head toss ignoring medical advice was fast and hot as I watched it. A truly impressive performance and well-deserved.

In other Bridges news, the high-def trailer for Tron Legacy popped up online this morning. Enjoy.

March 9th, 2010 at 11:57 am • Filed in Culture



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