I've always loved music movies. Maybe it's the union of two of my favorite forms of media, but even the most asinine music film will probably make a break for the top of my list. Recently, it's been hipster fare and music biopics that have dominated the music movie scene. With Jeff Bridges likely about to win the Oscar in the Best Actor category for his role in "Crazy Heart," however, maybe studios will sit up and take notice of the possibility for success in movies that take original music as their subject. A Johnny Cash film or a film whose soundtrack revolves entirely around minor label bands has a built-in audience. It will make money, but it isn't giving us anything new to listen to. Certainly, there is a charm to the soundtrack album and it's a great way to get into new music that you might otherwise miss. On the other hand, though, a movie like "Crazy Heart" or "Once" provides us with all new music to love. Yet, movies in this vein are a gamble. Think of many of the great music films that hinge on original music. Most of them, like "Crazy Heart," turn on premises that, at least on paper, don't sound like money-makers. But if the filmmakers can get that music right (and "Crazy Heart" goes a long way by including the venerable T-Bone Burnett in the process), they can transform that film from an experience that is primarily visual to one which continues to be powerfully aural long after the audience has left the theater. Certainly, the success of "Crazy Heart," like other music movies before it, will drive sales of the soundtrack album and that the Oscar for best actor will drive sales of the DVD. However, probably like most soundtracks of its kind, it will probably never escape the position of soundtrack to become a really popular album. "The Weary Kind," which is also nominated for best original song at the Oscars (but which I predict will be defeated by the ever-bland Randy Newman and his "Princess and the Frog" music) is a truly great song. Jeff Bridges's unique vocal style is wonderfully suited to the piece (probably because the actor was involved in the writing process from the beginning) and reviewers have harped on the song as one of the sources of the film's success. In fact, even Bridges has often emphasized in interviews the importance of that song to the film. He even went so far as to insist in Rolling Stone magazine that "Crazy Heart" wouldn't be a movie without the song. Yet even given all that, the Academy probably won't give the Oscar to "The Weary Kind" and sadly the listening public will probably never give it much credit outside the context of the film and its soundtrack. Why is that? One prime reason is probably that, no matter how you slice it, it is sung by Jeff Bridges. All other horrific Hollywood music aside (think William Shatner or Bruce Willis), it's still just strange to consider that you are listening to "the Dude" croon these songs. It is hard to consider them as songs in their own right when Bridges performs them in character. But if we can't get past that fact, we're missing the boat. The soundtrack to "Crazy Heart" is simply made up of some damn good music. Before you run and see the movie given all of its Oscar buzz, do yourself a favor and listen to the soundtrack first. Try to consider these as some great songs that just happen to be from the movie. Maybe, given "Crazy Heart's" success, we'll get the chance to do the same with a lot more original music movies in the future. Here's hoping.
You can reach this columnist at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
