My favorite Jeff Bridges movie is The Big Lebowski, but that's just, like, my opinion, man. In 2009's Crazy Heart, Bridges does a fine job as a burned out, broken down country singer, the archetypical hardcore troubadour. From commanding big arenas to playing bowling alleys, it's been a sharp decline for Bad Blake. Throw in a lovely reporter who comes around to do a where-is-he-now article on him, and the humiliation is complete.
The film was a big success, getting praise from critics, dollars from paying customers, and a Best Actor Oscar for Bridges. The Academy also awarded a statue to the song, "The Weary Kind," written by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett. I mean, how often will I get to mention T Bone Burnett in this column?
About 15 years ago, Jeff teamed up with Ledson Winery in Sonoma County to produce a Meritage blend of Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon. It benefitted the Harmony Foundation for Children at $125 a bottle. It's not clear if any is still available, but if so, it's a good cause. Explore the website for other ways to contribute.
Winter Kills is probably not as convincing as JFK, but is likely a lot funnier. The 1979 black comedy spins a yarn based on the John F. Kennedy assassination. Bridges stars as the half-brother of a fictional president who was assassinated 19 years earlier.
Want an all-star cast to go along with Jeff? How about John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach, Richard Boone, ToshirÅ Mifune, Sterling Hayden and Elizabeth Taylor. Despite the roster, the team didn't make the playoffs. Winter Kills tripped over its own complexity and earned only a fraction of its budget at the B.O.
While Kennedy was in the White House, he reportedly had Champagne flowing like the Seine. Pick up a bottle of your favorite Veuve Clicquot and drink like it's Camelot all over again. It starts at $40, but does not come with a conspiracy theory.
Fat City, from 1972, has Stacy Keach playing a has-been boxer who is trying to punch his way past his demons. This boxer is so down on his luck that he works in the fields with migrant workers to make money. We could use him out there today. A guy with fighting skills could match up nicely with all the ICE agents getting in the way of the picking.
The elder pugilist sees something in Bridges' young fighter, and begins training him. Maybe director John Huston saw himself in the young boxer. As a teen, Huston was quite the amateur lightweight himself. He quit the sweet science after getting his nose broken, possibly figuring that a movie career would be easier on his face. He went on, of course, to be a heavyweight in films.
This was supposed to be a vehicle for Beau Bridges, but he felt he couldn't convincingly play an 18-year-old. He felt that his kid brother could, and Huston agreed. Jeff was fresh off his breakout performance in The Last Picture Show, and Fat City sent him further on a successful acting career. It was quite an upswing from playing bit parts in his dad's TV show, Sea Hunt.
I'll resist the urge to pair a boxed wine with a boxing movie, although I'm told wine in a box can be pretty good. I don't have room in the fridge for a box of wine, so let's look at a fighting wine from Australia. Mollydooker is Australian slang for a left-handed boxer, and Mollydooker's The Boxer Shiraz packs a punch for about $30. I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains, lie la lie.
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