They say if you really want to win an Oscar you should get yourself into a film involving either somebody with a disability who triumphs over the odds or a harrowing World War II epic. Failing that, we think you could do worse than to get yourself in a country and western movie as Jeff Bridges has learnt to his credit as he picks up an Oscar nomination for Crazy Heart, released next week. Bridges plays Bad Blake, a hard living country star well past his prime.
To get ready for Crazy Heart, we suggest some country and western award winners to check out.
The Coal Miner's Daughter
Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for her portrayal of country legend Loretta Lynn in this 1980 biopic directed by Michael Apted. Lynn is widely considered to be a pioneer for women in country music, with many people seeing her as a feminist icon thanks to her songs about no nonsense women and no good men; The Coal Miner's Daugher however shows Lynn as rather more fragile than you would think from listening to her songs. Loretta is only 13 years old when she enters into a long and turbulent marriage to the much older Doolittle Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones), who is less than sympathetic to her unworldly, naïve nature. Her confidence only starts to grow when Doolittle gives her a guitar at age 24 and she starts to sing. Spacek does a brilliant job here, particularly in matching Lynn's sweet country vocals.
Walk the Line
Joaquin Pheonix steps into the shoes of the Man in Black alongside Reese Witherspoon as his eventual bride June Carter (an Oscar winning performance) for this brilliant 2005 film. As is typical of the road to country stardom, Walk the Line is littered with tragedy, heartbreak and a hell of a lot of booze. What the film does particularly well is to show Cash as charming and incredibly talented but also as a man who a lot of the time wasn't great to know or to be around. As touching as the love story is between Johnny and June, we are never allowed to forget that Johnny already has a wife and family at home that he has more or less discarded to follow his career in music. Still though, in between all this there are fantastic performances and a hell of a lot of great music to lighten things up!
A Prairie Home Companion
One thing you could always rely on Robert Altman for was to get together the best ensemble cast's a movie fan could ever hope for; his final film, A Prairie Home Companion is no exception. The film takes a fictional behind the scenes look at the real country radio show of the title as a change in ownership threatens its future. The stars that get behind the mic include Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson and John C Reilly; while Tommy Lee Jones, Virginia Madsen, Kevin Kline and Maya Rudolph all show up backstage. A gentle film about families, music and with a touch of the supernatural it's the perfect watch for a rainy afternoon.