Crazy Heart and other failing organs

Day before yesterday we enjoyed the preview DVD of CRAZY HEART, which could have been a snooze cliche collection without the talents of Jeff Bridges and the down-home beauty of his costar Maggie Gyllenhaal as the burned-out country singer "Bad Blake" and his single-mom rescuer.

The movie's sin, suffer, redemption pattern has no more originality than the average country song, but it succeeds because Bridges creates a riveting and believable character. He plays guitar well and finds a voice lik...