The superb performance of Jeff Bridges makes this film stand out for me.

He plays a hard-drinking drunk country singer named Bad Blake.

Now a has-been getting by on is early years as a songwriter, performer, and a few hit records, he is now on the road bouncing from crummy dingy motels, nightclubs, bars -- and becomes involved with a young journalist and her 4-tear-old son.

This looks like the hope that might be the happily ever after part of his life that works.

Don't count on it.

Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal give standout performances in this film about a down-and-out country singer, battling both alcoholism and a troubled past.

Washed up and out of touch, he continues to "entertain" as his protege climbs the ladder of success he once owned.

Spiraling out of control, he meets a single mother who just may be his redemption.

Great soundtrack, great performances, great movie.

The movie Crazy Heart stars Jeff Bridges as a broken-down washed-up country musician named Bad Blake -- an alcoholic singer-songwriter who drives a messed-up truck from small town to town, playing jobs in dive bars and bowling alleys.

Bad Blake was once a music legend, but after years of living like one of the characters in one of his hard-luck tunes, he's just bad.

At least until he falls for a good-looking journalist who interviews him and, in time, makes him want to change.

This is a raw and powerful performance of a lifetime.

It's the kind of heart-breaking, redemptive drama that could snag Bridges his 5th Oscar acting nomination.