The harder the life, the sweeter the song.

Ever since the first Jeff Bridges flick I saw as a kid—Tron, obviously—I've been a staunch Bridges fan. (Jeff not Beau, duh.) Growing up, I also loved him in movies like King Kong, The Fisher King and Tucker. I kinda saw him as another Harrison Ford, which comes in handy once you see Harrison Ford on TV with his ear ring, ugh. I've always loved Jeff's delivery, it's completely genuine—you think, yeah that's how I woulda said that.

For a Bridges fan, Crazy Heart was as good as it gets. He completely throws himself into the Bad Blake character, singing the songs himself, playing the guitar himself and probably nearly drinking himself to death. Crazy Heart is also a music fan's film. There are definitely some "Once-like" moments, though the cool rawness of Once isn't present. The T-Bone Burnett tunes are simple and fantastic. You want to own the soundtrack after seeing it, for sure.

The the rest of the cast is surprisingly compelling as well. Robert Duvall is classic. Maggie Gyllenhaal has another consistently hot-or-not showing. And out of nowhere, Colin Farrell delivers an oddly perfect performance as Tommy Sweet, Blake's prodigy. Bottom line: Crazy Heart is a tough story to watch unfold—but if you're a Bridges fan or a music lover in general, it's worth a gander for sure.