Any film where the leading actor is tipped as favourite to win an Oscar must be worth watching. Crazy Heart is no exception as Jeff Bridges turns out an excellent performance as Bad Blake, a country singer in meltdown.

Bridges has of course been turning out excellent performances since his rise to fame in the 1971 film, The Last Picture Show for which he was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. To date he has yet to win an Oscar, but critics are hailing his performance in Crazy Heart where he plays a singer with a strong liking for alcohol and cigarettes.

As with most drunks this affects his life with four divorces under his belt, whilst his career is also spiralling downwards. He chooses to opt out of rehearsals with his band before performances to down large quantities of whisky.

Bridges is joined in the cast by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Jean a single mother quite a few years younger than Bad, but a character that might just be able to get him back on track. Meanwhile Colin Farrell plays a rising Country and Western singer, who was mentored by the fading Blake and has now surpassed him.

The film is the directorial debut for actor Scott Cooper and is an adaptation of a novel written by Thomas Cobb. It is a great vehicle for Bridges to show is undoubted skill as an actor as well as providing Country and Western fans with some great music too.