Scott Cooper

Bridges ably does his own guitar playing and singing, another reason Crazy Heart is a gift to those who have long appreciated his talents.

This material...isn't deceptively simple: it's just simple.

Stars Depp in a performance generating awards talk, makes a complicated story coherent without dumbing it down (much), lets a bunch of strong actors do their things, and yet inspires little more than adjectives like 'efficient' and 'workmanlike.'

A contrived but effective parable of the American West, its painful legacy, and small measures of redemption...But our focus frustratingly remains on the white people and Blocker’s struggle to reach empathy...