Crazy heart

The Oscar-awarding "Academy" of Hollywood has around 6,000 eligible voters. In the technical categories, their restricted electorates presumably are fairly good, if not always fair, judges of their co-professionals. In the open-to-all major categories, the members often get seduced en masse by a movie or actor whose appeal to their personal vanities is blindingly apparent.

It was very likely that Jeff Bridges would win the 2009 Best Actor statuette for his role in Crazy Heart. He was an ageing, four-time nominee playing an ageing, grumpy C&W singer with relationship and family problems. Getting cast for such an emotive hammy part gets a high proportion of Academy votes on side immediately. Turn in a competent performance, and the actor is way ahead of the pack in gaining an Oscar nomination. Because, a lot of Academy members seem to be ageing, retired and have unresolved issues with their kids.

They help to explain why Michael Rourke (The Wrestler), Richard Farnsworth (Straight Story), Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond), Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Peter O'Toole (Venus), Marlon Brando (Godfather) were all nominated. In the Best Supporting Actor category, recent nominee veterans include Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jack Palance (City Slickers) and George Burns (Sunshine Boys).

The list of Best and Best Supporting Actress nominees also creaks with geriatric nominees apparently earning tacit Academy lifetime-achievement awards, the achievement being the ability to live and work at a ripe old age. That's something ageing members appreciate.

Bridges has delivered some fetching, under-stated performances during his career (The Fisher King, Tucker and K-Pax spring to mind). Unfortunately, his red-carpet posturing and acceptance-speech strutting were not under-stated.

If Buggins' Turn applies in Hollywood, it may have been his turn for glory. But mainly because the competition this year was below par. It comprised another veteran (Morgan Freeman, but he's already been Awarded well), another previous winner who could be passed over (George Clooney), a much younger actor who can await his turn if his talent permits (Jeremy Renner), and Colin Firth portraying a homosexual. He could have had a big block vote if more old Academy members had come out in time in their past -- and if he wasn't British.

Were the indie movie itself and Bridges' performance worth the win? And watching? On TV perhaps. It's easier to yawn at home. The movie's little-noticed plus factor was Colin Farrell's supporting actor/singer role. At least he's young enough to still believe that his turn could come one year.

It will help him if he learns a Hollywood Life lesson from this movie. Learn to help Fate: if you get a juicily sentimental role as an older man, it will surely help you to surround yourself with a few other admired older talents. Bridges, who co-produced this maudlin musical tale, got Robert Duvall to co-produce and play a cameo role. Then elderly C&W singer T-Bone Picket got on board as another co-producer and sang some melancholy numbers, including the Oscar-winning title song. Bingo!