Tender enough, reasonably merciful

I really wanted to love “Crazy Heart.” I wanted to love it as much as I loved “Tender Mercies” and “The Wrestler.”

But we are faced with a case of like, not love. “Crazy Heart” has its many merits and is certainly worth seeing. Yet it is too much like “Tender Mercies” and “The Wrestler” to be less spectacular than they are.

Based on the 1987 book by Thomas Cobb (“Tender Mercies” came out in 1983), “Crazy Heart” tells the not unfamiliar story of a once-famous country singer whose self-destructive thirst for alcohol has left him broke, bitter and empty. Reduced to playing bowling alleys in such towns as Pueblo, Colo., his life now consists of a broken-down truck, a daily hangover and nights with groupies past their prime. Possible redemption -- and his last chance -- comes in the form of a good woman who finds it in her heart to love him. The only question is whether he is too far gone to accept the change she can bring him.

Bad Blake, as he is called, is the sort of character a good actor can really get his teeth into. Jeff Bridges, who is always good, plays him with the quiet self-loathing the character needs, the soulless weariness of too many nights on the road and too much self-indulgence. Bridges has been getting all the press and the awards, including a Golden Globe, but to my eye his performance is the film’s second best.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is spot on with her more subtle portrayal of Jean, the woman who could make a difference in his life. We believe her reluctance to get involved with an alcoholic country singer, we believe that she is a caring, loving mother, we believe that she is smart and sensible and that she would never go out with a guy named Bad unless he looked like Jeff Bridges.

The direction of Scott Cooper (who also wrote the script) may be predictable, but it is still effective. We know we are going to see soaring shots of the great Southwest mixed with scenes of a sweaty Bad playing in bars. But here is something we don’t expect to see, and it makes a difference: the musicians behind them are actually playing their instruments in time to the music. Technically, that’s a hard trick to pull off in a film, but Cooper had both the confidence and the ability to pull it off.

Even more impressive is that he makes us care, at least to some degree, about a selfish, boozy singer who could definitely use a shower. Or two.

T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton wrote the songs, which manage a difficult trifecta -- they reveal the thoughts of the character singing them, they fall within the limited ranges of Bridges and Colin Farrell as his one-time protégé, and they sound good. The only exception to the part about sounding good is the big song, the one that gets nominated for awards, the one that is supposed to be the best. It has no hook, it has no verve, it just sort of meanders. The script calls for a transformative song, a song that will long be remembered.

“Crazy Heart” will be remembered and regarded well after the song “The Weary Kind.” You forget that song while it is still being sung.