Review: Crazy Heart (15)***

Jeff Bridges seems destined, undeservedly, to win an Oscar for his turn as a washed up country and western singer, who lives by the bottle. Crazy Heart follows a self-destructive has-been on the slow and painful road to redemption, and the leading man's portrayal of a drunkard doesn't earn our sympathy with ease.

Yet through an unlikely romance, we are able to glimpse the tenderness and sadness in this pitiful man, and will him to complete a stint in rehab.

Fifty seven years old, and still touring rundown motels, Bad Blake (Bridges) is constantly drunk, and strums and sings with bloodshot eyes to his loyal fans.

Before one performance, newspaper reporter Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) interviews Bad, and piques his interest.

Sexual chemistry between the pair is palpable but Jean is extremely wary: she has a young son to protect, but the singer gets under her skin, and she opens her heart to the possibility of love. She has to compete with his love for Jack Daniels and the allure of a potential comeback with former protege Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). Crazy Heart hinges on the spark between Bridges and Gyllenhaal, and the two actors generate plenty of heat. Bridges delivers a compelling performance as a talented songwriter who has almost supped away his talent, and he is matched by Gyllenhaal's emotionally raw portrayal of a lonely woman, heading for the kind of heartache that would inspire Bad to write one of his songs.