How could you go wrong with character names such as Tommy Sweet, Jean Craddock and Bad Blake? Fox Searchlight has boarded a low budget indie pic which apparently works with a Tender Mercies-like plot and features a strong foursome of Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhall, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall. Variety reports that Searchlight paid a low seven-figure minimum guarantee for worldwide rights to the indie drama, set for release in the spring. Perhaps a Sundance showcase is in the cards?
Actor Scott Cooper made his directing debut with this feature, recently starred with Duvall in someone else’s feature-length directorial debut. Aaron Schneider’s Get Low will play out to buyers and the Torontonians in September.
Based on the debut novel by Thomas Cobb, this centers on a down-on-his-luck, alcoholic country music singer named Bad Blake (Bridges) who is able to get his life and career back on track through his relationship and experiences with a female reporter Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal) while dealing with the rise of his younger protege Tommy Sweet (Farrell). Duvall plays a mentor to Bridges’ character.
Worth noting: T Bone Burnett (Walk the Line) created the original music for the film.
Here are some review quotes from the novel which give us an idea on what type of washed out places the film will take us to.
“Crazy Heart is a beautiful book… The characters are cut cleanly out of America–the roadside West, the dance halls and beer joints, the occasional big concert, Houston, Nashville, Southern California, and the endless, eternal hotel rooms that are as close to home as any country singer ever gets… Bad Blake is a man you will not soon forget.”
–Kinky Friedman, The Washington Times
“In his debut novel, Thomas Cobb has produced a piercing, keenly observed chronicle of America, getting across the current mores and attitudes as experienced by C & W musician Blake.”
–Los Angeles Times
“In producing as nearly a masterpiece as the subject has yet attracted, Cobb seems to have triumphed… Cobb has created an unforgettable character who engages not only your interest, but your emotion… and who proceeds to take you on a roller-coaster ride through his tawdrily tumultuous life.”
–Chicago Tribune
“A measure of Thomas Cobb’s talent is that he can make Bad Blake’s story amusing even as we watch him fall. Bad is entirely sympathetic, and his crazy heart is vivid; the milieu is as resonant as a steel guitar, and the plot moves along without skipping a beat.”
–New York Times Book Review
