Nolamike wrote:nathan wrote:As for me:
Overall, I really liked it. But I had a nagging feeling that it didn't go as far as it could. The central relationship that spurred the decisions of the main character was just a crush with someone half his age. It just rang hollow for me that that is what it took for him to want to change. I found myself wishing that they would have focused more on family and friends instead of some awkward lusty fling. But as it is, it's a character study in the grand tradition of boozy loners wandering the Earth in search of something real. And on that note, it succeeds nicely.
Yeah, the relationship bugged me from another aspect too - the idea that a good looking single mother who is both very protective of her son and is trying to make it as a journalist would get romantically involved with a pretty obscure country singer who is (a) twice her age, (b) a complete alcoholic, (c) in poor health, (d) lives over 1,000 miles away, and (e) is financially struggling, and that (f) she is willing to violate some professional ethics standards (i.e., don't sleep with the subjects of your articles) to do so. I enjoyed the movie for the most part (the character study on the boozy loner, as you put it), but I found myself not buying the relationship angle.
Yeah, I'd agree with both of you here on this one, although I will say that Maggie Gyllenhall did a really good job in a pretty thankless role. I think there were a few scenes in isolation where they did convince, but ultimately, I wondered whether a more interesting film could've been made about how Bridges and Farrel's characters drifted apart, and how Bridges and Robert Duvall's characters first met. Ultimately, the best bits about the film were the concert scenes, the interactions with the audience, the sense of drudgery mixed with brief moments of spontaneity. And I love the fact his first gig is at a bowling alley.
Bridges has to be one of cinema's most natural actors, though, you never see him breaking a sweat or forcing anything, he just is his roles. And as always, it's great to see Robert Duvall- he seems to be one of those actors who really excells in cameos, maybe because he just nails something from the start.