RobertHilburnOnline.com

 
 
   BROKEN EMBRACES
   Undernourished
   Penelope Cruz is more gorgeous than ever, but is that really enough reason to see Pedro Almodovar’s latest film? The story is as slippery as an eel, but a lot of that misdirection and redirection is wasted on a very familiar device: the movie within the movie. The director is in love with his actress whose film is financed by the actress’s lover. Where does it end? Nothing really matters, the message seems to be, as long as the film gets made. Two problems: the telling is too slow and, in for much of the way, a bit too obvious. It’s all diverting, but a little empty.

   CRAZY HEART
   You gotta see it. 
   Saying you gotta see it is different from saying this is a great film, which it is not—by a long shot. The tale of the faded country music singer traveling the back roads circuit of bowling alleys and seedy motels has been told better, but no one has matched Jeff Bridges’ brilliant performance as the singer. He captures every nuance of the bruised ego, immense vulnerability and still lingering dreams of the country music star who has run out of hits and luck, and he captures them so well that you wish he had a little bit more material to work with. But Bridges—along with the music by T Bone Burnett and others—are what you “gotta” see. “Crazy Heart.” It isn’t just the performance of the year; it’s one of the performances of the decade.
 


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