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‘Crazy Heart’ a fitting Bruton epitaph
When Stephen Bruton was too sick, too weak from cancer to deal with airports and commercial flights, T-Bone Burnett, his friend of 45 years, hired a private jet to fly the Austin songwriter/ guitarist to Los Angeles to finish work on “Crazy Heart,” the film that opens Dec. 16 in just enough theatres to get Jeff Bridges an Oscar nomination for best actor. Bruton passed away in May, just days after the film’s music was finished.
Bruton’s contributions were not merely token, however. He co-wrote many of the key songs in the film, including “Hold On You,” “Somebody Else,” “Fallin’ and Flyin’,” “I Don’t Know” (all sung by the Jeff Bridges character Bad Blake) and “Gone, Gone, Gone” performed by Colin Farrell’s character, a former Blake protege turned country superstar. The tunes sound like the former hits the movie made them out to be.
The soundtrack will be released on CD by New West on Jan. 19.
Although Bridges looks an awful lot like Bruton’s longtime friend/boss Kris Kristofferson, his character seems based more on Billy Joe Shaver, back before he was born again. With more than a little Waylon thrown in. Shaver’s friend and admirer Robert Duvall has a relatively small part in the film, but delivers an a capella “Live Forever” during a key scene.
A simple description of “Crazy Heart” is that it’s the part of “Tender Mercies,” the set up, that you don’t see. Blake is a hard-drinking has-been with no direction until he meets a single woman and her young son, but there’s a twist here.
Don’t want to spoil anything, but when this movie comes around, you’re gonna want to wait until the very end, after the credits, for a chicken skin moment.
Ryan Bingham sings theme song on ‘Crazy Heart’
Comments
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By SteveTownLake
December 9, 2009 4:07 PM | Link to this
I had the pleasure to attend the premiere in Beverly Hills on 12-8. The movie is based on the book by the same name by my brother-in-law Thomas Cobb. Great music film. Would have been perfect to open at SXSW, but it’s great that Bridges can be oscar-eligible. He makes a great performance, and sings well. Maggie Gyllenhall is killer. TBone’s musical production is fabulous as you would expect, with Bruton’s contribution palpable.
By jpt51
December 16, 2009 9:27 PM | Link to this
Where is this movie playing in Austin???