CRAZY HEART (Cert 15) Interview with an Old Legend
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CRAZY HEART (Cert 15) interview with an old legend. Blake falls for her and dotes on her son, Buddy. It looks like the cowboy Reel Issues Author: Clive Price could get his girl and ride off into the sunset. Director: Scott Cooper Sadly, the real winner here is the alcohol. Distracted by Produced by: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Informant his drink, Blake temporarily loses Jean’s son in a mall, Media, Butcher's Run Films and the romance disintegrates. He could cope with the sickness and sleeping, but not the spurning. Supported Length: 1 hr 46 minutes by his pal Wayne (Robert Duvall), he joins an Overview: A washed-out country singer abandons the Alcoholics Anonymous group to get sober. road to hell and embarks on a journey of redemption. It seems the rejection is just what he needed. For not Cautions: Contains sexual content and strong only does he clean himself up, but also he starts language. writing songs again – this time for his former sidekick Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). All the time, we are led SUMMARY OF PLOT to believe the polished new Blake will reunite with Bad Blake, played by popular American actor Jeff Jean and live happily ever after. Bridges, is a clapped-out country singer, whose best But the story doesn’t quite end that way. Jean finds friend is a bottle of whisky. A former household name, her own happiness with someone else. In the closing he has obviously hit on hard times. Yet still he tries to scene, Blake faces the consequences of his past, yet earn a living playing rough spit-and-sawdust venues still appears resolute about redeeming himself. like bars and bowling alleys. Maturity has arrived. The film opens with Blake travelling across a vast SOME KEY ISSUES western landscape under wide open skies – in a rusty old Chevy Suburban. Instantly, there is a mix of sweet Human value: scarred, not scrapped romance and bitter reality. He arrives at a gig and Bad Blake is a composite character, a blend of country empties urine from a plastic carton onto the car park. legends who have messed up and then crawled Blake is pouring out his life on the road. towards redemption. Johnny Cash is the obvious real- When he appears on stage, he almost becomes a life example. Such men are poets of the road, different person. Of course, Blake is meant to be an purveyors of American mythology. And they are often old hand at this game, so the songs come easy – some mixtures of dark and light, as they sing for the broken a little easier than others. So lyrics like, ‘I used to be and the oppressed – ironically, while breaking their somebody, now I am somebody else’ become own bodies with drugs, drink and smoke. They are commentaries on his present condition. bold, stark reminders of the state of us all. We are down, but not out; scarred, but not scrapped. Made in God’s image, we are still the objects of his love, even The weary routine of boozy concerts and casual sex is with our blemishes. Despite our shortcomings, we still broken by smalltown reporter and single mum Jean carry inherent value. Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal). She seeks her epic reelissues.org.uk Crazy Heart /1 REELISSUESepic True destiny: made for something more enjoying a new existence. He could easily become bitter again. But it is as if he has come to terms with Blake is tired with life and has resigned himself to the the idea of personal choice, that he has to make some road. Cigarettes and alcohol are his close companions. big life decisions on his own, and commit himself to a Yet still there is something within him that compels new path – even if it’s a lonely one for now. He has him to reach for something more. Obviously he is hard finally grown up – under those wide, open skies. up, and needs to earn more money. But he starts writing songs again with a new love for the job. He rediscovers an appreciation of the power of creating something out of nothing. There is a sense in which he CLIPS AND IDEAS FOR RESPONDING has almost begun to listen properly to his songs, with their poignant lyrics and sentimental messages. He Clip 1: DVD chapter 3. Runs 8.58 realises there is more to life than vomitting into minutes to 12.45 minutes (approx. rubbish bins and passing out in cheap motel rooms. three and three-quarter minutes in There is a light that shines within the human heart. length). Family love: acceptance and grace How far can you fall? This clip sums up the lead The turning point in Blake’s life is meeting Jean and character’s life, and forms the foundation for much of her little boy. Like many music celebrities, he’s gone the movie’s melancholy. Bad Blake admits he might be through more than his fair share of marriages, and ‘sick, drunk, divorced and on the run’, but he hasn’t even has his own son somewhere. But this time it missed a show in his life – even though this one is in a seems different. Jean is much younger than the 57- bowling alley, backed by a bunch of hippies. But the year-old troubadour, which maintains his interest gig goes from bad to worse as Blake consumes far too considerably. But she also has a son, which re-awakens much whisky, and can’t even perform for most of a fatherhood within him. We are persuaded to imagine song. While the band plays inside, he is out the back, that, compared to all the one-night stands he has had, emptying the contents of his stomach into a rubbish this time Blake has found something real. We hope for bin. a nicely wrapped-up outcome, so he can become In pairs: husband to Jean and stepfather to her son. The idea of family is presented as a strong, redemptive force. Old encounters new as fading country star meets budding young band. They have already started Personal choice: accountable and alone smoking dope, embarking on a similar journey as Jean rejects Blake when he loses her son, because he Blake’s self-destruction. stopped for a drink in a bar. She still rejects him when • What is the attraction for creative young minds? he cleans himself up and gets sober. There is a third Some artists believe drugs help maintain the ‘high’ and final abandonment when, at the end of the film, of the gig, calm their nerves and even alleviate the Blake notices an engagement ring on her finger. Yet boredom of touring. How can we help young despite all these setbacks, he appears to stick to his artists, musicians, etc, to steer clear of such pitfalls, chosen course of freeing himself from his old life and as they seek to enter turbulent professions? reelissues.org.uk Crazy Heart /2 REELISSUESepic • Listen to the words of Blake’s songs. What • Couples and families that don’t fit the traditional warnings do the lyrics offer to both himself and his mould still experience redemption through the love audience? How far can a song or other work of art they share and receive – just like everyone else. go, in helping to form personal values and create Can this be a window opening on the love of God? belief systems? Can you think of any examples If so, how can we help such families to see God at where a lyric has led to transformation in an work in their home? individual’s life? Or are we over-emphasising the power of art? Clip 3: DVD chapter 11. Runs 40.15 • Blake forgets a young band is looking to him for guidance. And he ends up in a worse state than minutes to 44.15 minutes (approx. 4 they are. How can one set lifestyle examples to minutes). younger people, even if the prevailing culture Who is your mentor? In this scene, Blake meets his works against that? former protégé Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). They are about to do a concert together. What is encouraging and endearing about the character of Tommy is that Clip 2 DVD chapter 5. Runs 17.28 he respects – rather than rejects – his roots. As a minutes to 21.45 minutes (approx. result, he wants to honour Blake as his former mentor, four and a quarter minutes in length). even urging one of his own fans to get Blake’s autograph, too. He wants Blake to write some new Where do we find our redemption? This is the point material so he can record it. where Blake meets Jean, who appears different from all the other women he has known. Jean and her In pairs: young son help Blake to find a new vision for his life. • What are the main aims of mentoring? At this moment of their first meeting, there is a gentle charm between them – despite Blake’s rough-and- • What is the ideal mentor and mentee relationship? ready appearance. Although it is Jean asking the How should that be worked out? questions about his background, we get to learn more • Do you know of any examples of how a mentoring about the two of them in the process. arrangement has worked well in a church, Whole group: community, education or business setting? What can we all learn from that? • We learn that Blake has been through four marriages. Jean is a single mum. How should churches respond to the growing reality of blended Clip 4: DVD chapter 23-24.