april-2010

LAWRENCE HO/LA TIMES/CONTOUR PHOTOS
WRONG
The common conception of a Hollywood hero is handsome,
strong and stoic. But many of the most beloved leading men
have been down-and-out, fragile and damaged. What is it
about these guys that audiences love so much? // BY PATRICK HUGUENIN
Jean Craddock: Where do all those
songs come from?
Bad Blake: Life, unfortunately.
—Crazy Heart
A GRIZZLED COUNTRY SINGER pulls into the
dusty parking lot of a bowling alley in
his battered 1978 Chevy Suburban. So
this is the gig he’s driven 350 miles for.
Such is the kind of unfortunate turn that
captivates us. Our hearts go out to Bad
Blake (played by Jeff Bridges) in Crazy
Heart, a guy at the tail end of a career
that’s gone to pieces. As with so many
big-screen love interests, Bad is a witch’s
brew of calamity: He’s an alcoholic. He’s
lovelorn. He’s broke. And somehow
he’s one of the most romantic fi gures in
recent cinema, because he inspires the
audience to actually care about him.
“If we didn’t care that he’s lived
through peaks and valleys, then we
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wouldn’t follow him through the story,”
said Crazy Heart writer and director
Scott Cooper. “Bad Blake is a national
treasure, a legendary musician who
is addicted to troubled women and
alcohol.” And so the audience gets
pulled in, following Bad to concerts
good and awful, through physical
illness, through terse skirmishes with
his manager.
And there’s a pay-off . Bad fi nds love