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RATING:   
SINGAPORE - You've probably already heard that "Crazy Heart" is this year's "The Wrestler", where instead of following the travails of a has-been wrestler to Oscar love, we play groupie to a has-been country music singer-songwriter.
Our cynical side leans towards the lukewarm reception to director Scott Cooper's rather derivative NC16 tale based on a novel of the same name. But for its rather unoriginal plot, it's hard not to be charmed by Crazy Heart's crazy lead, Jeff Bridges, who channels his iconic The Dude character from "The Big Lebowski" through "Almost Famous" and "Walk The Line", as gruff, alcoholic country singer Bad Blake.
Up for a Best Actor Oscar, Bridges barrels through the movie with such brash aplomb, as he deals with performing in bowling alleys, getting over his hang-ups over a mentee who has surpassed him (Colin Farrell), and a budding relationship with a starry-eyed journo young enough to be his daughter (a wrongly-cast Maggie Gyllenhaal).
In interspersing scenes of picture-perfect vistas of New Mexico with the gritty reality of Blake's hand-to-mouth existence - set to a soundtrack of some catchy country music - Cooper admittedly captures much of the roller-coaster highs and lows of someone who's seen better times.
But for all its seemingly meandering directorial approach to what's clearly a character piece, "Crazy Heart" has a heart in Bridges.
And like last year's wrestling champ, his performance here will bring the house down.
- TODAY/ar
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