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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crazy_heart.jpg]]
2
3->''"I'm Bad Blake. When I die, my tombstone will have my real name. Until then, I'm gonna stay Bad."''
4-->-- '''Bad Blake'''
5
6''Crazy Heart'' is a 1987 novel by Rhode Island College professor Thomas Cobb that later became a 2009 film written and directed by Scott Cooper and starring [[Film/TheBigLebowski The Dude himself]], Creator/JeffBridges.
7
8"Bad" Blake is a down-on-his-luck Country singer who nowadays travels on the road to perform one night stands wherever he can get them. His protegee, Tommy Sweet, is now a bigger star than him, and that gets on his nerves. One day, reporter Jean Craddock comes along and asks for an interview. He complies, and the ensuing relationship with her and her son Buddy sets up the road to get his life back on track. The film became a sleeper success, in great part because of buzz for Creator/JeffBridges' performance, and earned him the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]] for Best Actor. The film also won the Oscar for Best Original Song ("The Weary Kind"), and Creator/MaggieGyllenhaal was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
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11!!This work features examples of:
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13* TheAlcoholic: Bad Blake. A major plot point in the film is Blake trying to overcome his drinking problem.
14* AlcoholicParent: Parent substitute. Buddy gets lost while Blake is gets drunk at a mall.
15* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Blake promises not to drink when he's around Buddy, as soon as he does though Buddy dissapears immediately.
16* CareerResurrection: In-universe, Blake is hoping to revive his moribund career by writing or performing songs that get his name back into the spotlight and money back in his pocket. [[spoiler:By the end of the story, he has started a possible resurrection by writing the hit song "The Weary Kind" for Tommy Sweet.]]
17* CountryMusic: Quite a bit of it is sung throughout the movie.
18* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: Jean ultimately marries someone else, though the experience helps Blake get his life back together)]].
19* EmbarrassingFirstName: Blake almost never reveals his true name to people, but towards the end of the film we learn that it’s [[spoiler:Otis.]] A name that hardly makes you think of a badass country singer, no wonder he used a stage name.
20* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: "Bad" Blake; in the end, he reveals his true first name: [[spoiler:Otis.]]
21* HandsomeLech: Blake could be classified as either of these; he seems to have quite a way with the ladies, despite being a mess most of the time.
22* IAmTheBand: Bad Blake and whatever country band was hanging around will be preforming tonight.
23* {{Jerkass}}: We are led to believe Tommy is something of one at first, given Blake's issues with performing alongside him, but it is quickly revealed that, like Blake's inability to write new material, it's more his issues than Tommy's. Tommy is actually something of a NiceGuy, given he actively encourages people to take notice of Blake, encourages them to work together, tries to get a fan to obtain Blake's autograph, and actively pushes a deal that would see Blake receive more money than he's seen in years.
24* MasterApprenticeChain: From Blake to Tommy.
25* MissingChild: When Blake loses Buddy in a mall, both for what might have happened to the boy and the fact that Jean would never forgive him for doing that, especially after Jean made him promise not to drink in front of the boy. [[spoiler:Good news/Bad news: Buddy is found safe by mall security, but Jean breaks off the relationship because of that.]]
26* OscarBait: A [insert whatever you want here] destroys his life and then gets better after being inspired to by a beautiful young woman.
27* ParentalAbandonment: Bad Blake hasn't seen his adult son since he was 4 years old.
28* SirSwearsALot: Blake himself.
29* SpotlightStealingSquad: Averted. Colin Farrell explicitly asked to not be credited because he didn't want to overshadow Jeff Bridges.
30* VomitDiscretionShot: A couple of times.

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