Under Stjernerne på Himlen (2025) - Eurovision biopic is sentimental in the most wonderful way

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Anders Matthesen's profile against colored spotlights on a stage makes up this simple poster for Kasper Gaardsøe's Under Stjernerne på Himlen

Danish rock musician Tommy Seebach changes tone and conquers international dance floors in 1979 with his Eurovision hit Disco Tango. But after a decade of hits his fame fades, and the spotlight moves on. Tommy wants to reconquer the stage, but the costs of his endeavor rise.

Under Stjernerne på Himlen is written by Stefan Jaworski (Rita (2013, TV-series)) and Jannik Tai Mosholt (Anti (2016)), based on the life of Tommy Seebach, and directed by debuting Kasper Gaardsøe (DNA (2019, TV-series)). The original Danish title translates to 'under the stars on the sky'.

Opening with the Disco Tango pomp and splendor, the film soon arrives at Seebach's increasingly difficult predicament from the 1990s onward: Past his glory and relying on the bottle for support and comfort. Anders Matthesen (Toscana (2022, VoD)) shows more dramatic range and skill than he has been afforded space for in prior performances, and Neel Rønholt (Tinka og Kongespillet (2019, TV-series)) is good as his sweet, patient and forgiving wife. Their three children are central to the film, which is mostly a story of a family's coping with the father/husband's suffering from alcoholism. They also give fine performances, and the production's vivid design, costumes and hairpieces help recreate the eras depicted vividly.

Though there are light moments and some humor, the film is mostly a sentimental drama, building up to Seebach's at first triumphant return to national celebration with the lullaby written for his daughter (the film's title is named after the song), which ends in disaster, when the song flops badly at the Eurovision in Ireland, and Tommy goes off the deep end as a result. Caspar Phillipson (Maria (2024)) is very good as Seebach's songwriting partner Keld Heick. 

Under Stjernerne på Himlen succeeds with a simple but effective, tender, loving portrayal of a man, his struggles and his family with plenty for others to reflect in and be moved by.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Too early to say

= Uncertain

[Under Stjernerne på Himlen was released 20 March (Denmark) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark. The cost is unreported so far, and the gross receipts are yet to be counted from the first weekend. The film is not slated to release in other markets as of yet. Gaardsøe does not have his next project announced yet. Matthesen returns in Det Andet Offer (2025). 82 IMDb users have given Under Stjernerne på Himlen a 7.8/10 rating.]

What do you think of Under Stjernerne på Himlen?

Tales of Ordinary Madness/Storie di Ordinaria Follia (1981) - Watch out for Gazzara as unofficial Bukowski in rambling Ferreri madness

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Symbolism, darkness and sexuality are teased on this poster for Marco Ferreri's Tales of Ordinary Madness

A drunken writer cultivates an intense relation with a younger prostituted female with a tendency towards self-harm.

 

Tales of Ordinary Madness is written by Sergio Amidei (Why?/Detenuto in Attesa di Giudizio (1971)), Anthony Foutz (Oltre l'Oceano (1990)) and co-writer/director Marco Ferreri (El Pisito (1958)). It is based on the works and person of US writer Charles Bukowski (Pulp (1994)), including his short story The Most Beautiful Woman in Town from his story collection Erections, Ejaculation, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (1972).

Ben Gazzara (Holy Money (2009)) is excellent and seems completely as the real deal, notorious drunk writer Bukowski (disguised under a synonym of course), whom he inhabits in this loosely told film. The pace and (the lack of) structure is probably dictated mostly by the material itself than by the filmmakers, and if seen at the correct (late) hour of the day, this definitely adult film is quite good. The major theme must be the mysterious human urge to lose oneself, in lust, in the other person, in drink, or in other things.

Related post:

Marco Ferreri: Seeking Asylum/Chiedo Asilo (1979) - Ferreri and Benigni present a cart of Italian bull

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Tales of Ordinary Madness premiered 5 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place around December 1980 in Georgia and Los Angeles, California. Details concerning the film's theatrical release are regrettably not easily located online: The film was reportedly successful in Europe but unsuccessful in North America. The film won 4/7 David di Donatello nominations. Ferreri returned with The Story of Piera/Storia di Piera (1983). Gazzara returned in A Question of Honor (1982, TV movie) and theatrically in La Ragazza di Trieste (1982); Ornella Muti (Wine to Love (2018)) in Nessuno è Perfetto (1981). 2.8k+ IMDb users have given Tales of Ordinary Madness a 6.7/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Tales of Ordinary Madness?

The Master (2012) - Anderson's stunning post-war reflection

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Reality splinters surreally on this ocean blue poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master

After World War II a drunken US navy marine heads back home from the Pacific and encounters difficulties fitting back into society, until he happens upon a charismatic 'master', Lancaster Dodd, who is leading a new religion known as 'the Cause'.

The Master is written and directed by Californian master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight (1996)), whose 5th feature it is.
It is an inspired film, and it is partly inspired by the foundation of L. Ron Hubbard's bizarre Church of Scientology. (Other interesting sources of inspiration for The Master include Thomas Pynchon's novel V. (1963), the life story of author John Steinbeck, drunken Navy stories told to Anderson by terminally ill actor Jason Robards during filming of Magnolia (1999) and more.)
The film has a beautiful, cinematic and slightly unnerving image side (remarkable, mostly 65 mm photography by Mihai Malaimare Jr. (Nina (2016))) and a typically challenging (for a P.T. Anderson movie) score (by Jonny Greenwood (We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011)), who also did the incredible score for Anderson's preceding masterpiece There Will Be Blood (2007).) It is accompanied by masterful performances from Joaquin Phoenix (Signs (2002)), whose pitch black portrayal of a particular kind of lost soul drunk is superb, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Leap of Faith (1992)), equally superb as choleric spiritual leader/con man Dodd. Amy Adams (Sunshine Cleaning (2008)) is adorable in the most sizeable supporting part, and forces like Laura Dern (Cold Pursuit (2019)) and Rami Malek (24 (2010, TV-series)) are icing on the cake.
The Master is a thought-provoking, dashing film of a seducer of minds.

Related posts:

Paul Thomas Anderson: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Phantom Thread (2017) - Anderson's exquisite drama of an English dressmaker and his Alma 
Boogie Nights (1997) - Anderson's irresistable porn 'Casino' 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 32 mil. $
Box office: 28.2 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.88 times its cost)
[The Master premiered 1 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 137 minutes. Anderson had reportedly had the idea for the film for 12 years before writing it. He also incorporated scenes from an early draft of his There Will Be Blood script. Collaboration with Universal Pictures to finance broke down. Hoffman suggested Anderson focus more on the sailor character than Dodd. It was the first film to be shot on 65 mm since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996). Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, Nevada and in Hawaii from June - September (2011). Anderson has said that Phoenix stayed in character for the entire three month shoot. The film opened #19 to a 736k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 864 theaters (different weeks), grossing 16.3 mil. $ (57.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.2 mil. $ (7.8 %) and Italy with 1.8 mil. $ (6.4 %). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actor (Phoenix) to Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, Supporting Actor (Hoffman) to Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained, and Supporting Actress (Adams) to Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables. The film was also nominated for 3 Golden Globes, 4 BAFTAs, won 3 awards in Venice and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches lower than this one. Anderson has said that The Master is his favorite among his own films and expressed his pride in it. Anderson returned with Back Beyond (2013, short), Fiona Apple: Hot Knife (2013, music video) and theatrically with Inherent Vice (2014). Phoenix returned in Back Beyond (2013, short) and theatrically in The Immigrant (2013); Hoffman in A Late Quartet (2012) and Adams in Trouble with the Curve (2012). The Master is certified fresh at 85 % with an 8.11/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Master?

A Star Is Born (2018) - Cooper and Gaga's spellbinding musical

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+ 2nd Best Movie of the Year
+ Best American Movie of the Year + Best Debut Movie of the Year: Bradley Cooper + Best Musical of the Year + Best Remake of the Year + Best Dog Performance of the Year: Charlie + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga caught in an intimate musical moment on this classy B/W and gold poster for Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born

Ally is a daytime waitress, night-time singer-songwriter, who performs in an LA drag bar one night, as major country rock star Jackson Maine coincidentally witnesses her talent, and the two connect, changing Ally's life changes radically.

A Star Is Born is the debut for co-writer/co-producer/director/star Bradley Cooper (Older than America (2008)), written with Eric Roth (Ali (2001)) and Will Fetters (The Lucky One (2012)), a remake of the classic A Star Is Born (1937), which was also remade with the same title in 1954 and 1976 as well as in Bollywood in 2013. The classic story is the stuff of myths, a basic engine that will likely prove as compelling today as in another 100 years: It is about the widespread human dream that one can be discovered at any moment in one's life and swept up into fame, fortune and creative breakthrough.
Lady Gaga (Machete Kills (2013)) has her first major dramatic part and lead in the film, a role that must have been easily relatable for her, and she knocks it out of the ballpark. From the dramatic title art, as she leaves her job, until her first vocal performance at the drag bar that night (of Edith Piaf's La Vie en Rose), she spellbinds the audience, and anyone going in with skepticism about her should feel put to shame this early on. She sings her lungs out and goes on to hold the film in her palm and carries it safely home in a soulful, invested performance. Cooper is also fantastic and wholly credible as the kind but scarred rock star, a struggling alcoholic and drug addict. SPOILER His unraveling is painful to observe, while Ally's ascent is inspiring, and in this way the film becomes an emotionally full-bodied, powerful ride.
There is a long list of enjoyable supporting actors in A Star Is Born is well: Sam Elliott (Rush (1991)) is great as Maine's older brother; Andrew Dice Clay (Night Patrol (1984)) is both funny and lovely as Ally's warm father, - with Barry Shabaka Henley (Lucky (2017)), Michael D. Roberts (Wishman (1992)) and Michael Harney (Ocean's Thirteen (2007)) as his endearing colleague chums, - Anthony Ramos (Patti Cake$ (2017)) is sweet as Ally's friend, and Dave Chappelle (Con Air (1997)) shows up with some pivotal wisdom in a couple of moving scenes as an old friend of Jackson. Cooper's private dog Charlie plays his lovely dog in the film.
The editing (by Jay Cassidy (Brothers (2009))) is on mark throughout, and the costumes (by Erin Benach (Drive (2011)) are often unassuming but very well curated.
A Star Is Born is a rare major star delight, an emotionally generous rollercoaster, which is also filled with great music, - Cooper and Gaga perform with skill and harmony, and Gaga helped write the songs as well, of which Shallow is the foremost hit wonder. 
SPOILER While the inspiring ending reminds us that we can overcome even the hardest blows, there are a few minor developments in the film's beginning that are less auspiciously written: Ally's quitting at work for just one hard comment by her boss; and her getting violent in a bar with Jackson by her side without much provocation, - both are scenes that should have been given a more natural narrative through-line. Still these are minor reservations to a rightly celebrated screen effort.

Related posts:

Bradley Cooper: 2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece (actor)
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) or, What Is Passed On? (actor)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Tender moments, great De Niro in uneven romantic dramedy (actor)
The Hangover Part II (2011) - Phillips & Co. follow their sensational comedy hit with a disappointing sequel (actor)
The A-Team (2010) - Carnahan and stars present a poorly made noise factory (actor)
The Hangover (2009) - Phillips & Co. hit the mother lode with hilarious crowdpleaser (actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 36 mil. $
Box office: 370.8 mil. $ and counting
= Mega-hit (returned 10.3 times its cost already)
[A Star Is Born premiered 31 August (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 135 minutes. The film began development in 2011 with Clint Eastwood to direct and Beyoncé in the female lead. Her pregnancy derailed the project, until Cooper began putting the film together in his vision in 2015. Shooting took place in England and California, including Los Angeles, from April 2017 - ?. The film opened #2, behind Venom, to a 42.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America where it stayed in the top 5 for another 5 weeks (#2-#2-#2-#4-#5) and has grossed huge 197.3 mil. $ to date. The biggest foreign markets are at this time the UK and Australia. The film has one market left to open in: Japan on 21 December. It is nominated for 5 Golden Globes, won an AFI award, nominated for 4 Grammys, won 4 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Cooper is announced to return as director-star of Bernstein, a biopic of American composer Leonard Bernstein. Gaga does not have her next acting job announced yet. A Star Is Born is certified fresh at 90 % with an 8.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Star Is Born?

Family (2001, documentary) - An intimate personal search for roots powerfully captured

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A DVD cover for Phie Ambo and Sami Saif's Family shows a man raising from the sea in a cry

Filmed by his girlfriend, this is the story of Sami Saif's search for his roots; first and foremost his father, who left his family in Denmark, when Sami was 8 years old, after which his mother fell waste to alcoholism and his brother committed suicide.

Family portrays an exciting journey and is made by Phie Ambo (Free the Mind (2012), documentary) and her partner Sami Saif (Paradis (2009), documentary). It is rife with emotions, and it becomes especially meaningful, when Saif meets his big brother in Yemen. But as Saif and at least I as a Danish viewer realized; he is a Dane, mostly, although the physical similarities with his Arabian family are striking.
Family is a liberating and extremely fine documentary of personal, highly intimate identity exploration.

In lieu of anything related to this documentary, which is not immediately to be found at Youtube, here is a trailer for a later documentary by Ambo called Free the Mind

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (but appears to have been a theatrical flop)
[Family premiered 9 November (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. The film sold 2,346 tickets in its production country Denmark. It was shown at a handful of European and North-American film festivals and also had a general release in the Netherlands. There is nothing to indicate that it could possibly be anything but a theatrical flop of some sort. It won an AFI Fest award, a Bodil award nomination and a Robert award (Denmark's Oscar) for Best Documentary. Ambo returned with documentary short Growing Up in a Day (2002) and theatrically with Nicolas Winding Refn bio-documentary Gambler (2006). Saif returned with documentary Dogville Confessions (2003). 166 IMDb users have given Family a 7.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Family?

Warrior (2011) - O'Connor's superbly acted MMA drama packs emotional fireworks

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4 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Actor: Joel Edgerton (lost to Jack Black for Bernie)
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Supporting Actor: Nick Nolte (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Practical Effects (lost to Haywire)

 

 

+ Best Boxing Movie of the Year

 

Stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton flash commendable physiques on this poster for Gavin O'Connor's Warrior

 

Two alienated brothers, who are both estranged from their newly sober alcoholic father enter for each their own reasons into heavy training for a coming, big MMA tournament.

Joel Edgerton (Black Mass (2015))) is excellent as the physics teacher, who fights to keep his family's home, - with a very different strength than Tom Hardy (Child 44 (2015)), who fights on pure hate and gives a very strong and frightening performance in Warrior. In the middle is Nick Nolte (The Good Thief (2002)), who is heartbreaking as their improved father that returns to them hat-in-hand, wishing for a relationship with his now adult sons.

If you are an MMA enthusiast or like martial arts generally, the fights towards the end of Warrior are fantastic in themselves. As such, however, this is a powerfully and soberly staged film that lives on its story of brothers at odds, which reaches mythical heights. It is written by Anthony Tambakis (Jane Got a Gun (2016)), Cliff Dorfman (Entourage (2005), TV-series) and great New-Yorker co-writer-director Gavin O'Connor (The Accountant (2016)), whose 5th feature it is.

 

Related posts:

 

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Listen to the song by The National About Today here, which is featured in the film

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 23.3 mil. $

= Huge flop

[Warrior was released September 9 and runs 140 minutes. Hardy went into heavy training for the part, gaining 28 pounds (13 kg), which he retained for his performance in The Dark Knight Rises. Filming took place in and around April 2009 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California. The film opened #3, behind newcomer Contagion and holdover hit The Help, to a 5.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 the following week and grossed 13.6 mil. $ (58.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.8 mil. $ (12 %) and 2.1 mil. $ (9%). Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars, equal to a notch harder than this review. The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Supporting Actor (Nolte), which it lost to Christopher Plummer in Beginners. It has won more popularity over time and now rests at #149 (between Sunrise/Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)) on IMDb's user-generated Top 250. Warrior is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Warrior?

Everything Must Go (2010) - Rush and Ferrell's great Carver adaptation

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2 Film Excess nominations:

Best Screenplay: Dan Rush (lost to Christopher Nolan for Inception)
Best Lead Actor: Will Ferrell, also for Megamind (lost to Stephen Dorff for Somewhere)
 
+ Best Adaptation of the Year

Will Ferrell does look a little lost on this poster for Dan Rush's Everything Must Go

Will Ferrell (Stranger than Fiction (2006))  plays a man who loses his job, his wife and his car and deals with these defeats by deciding to move out onto his front lawn and start drinking.

Everything Must Go is a Raymond Carver (Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (1976)) adaptation, based on his short story Why Don't You Dance? (1978), written and directed by Dan Rush as his first and only credit to date. It has just the needed shot of comedy in the shape of Ferrell and some extra warmth in Rush's script, which Carver's story is likely to have be missing.
Ferrell is eminent in the for him rare, more dramatic part, and Rebecca Hall (The Gift (2015)) and Laura Dern (When the Game Stands Tall (2014)) are both good in supporting parts. Everything Must Go is a nice dramedy and a fine film SPOILER with a hopeful ending that is decidedly un-Carveresque.

Related posts:

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 5 mil. $
Box office: 2.7 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown (looks like a huge flop)
[Everything Must Go premiered September 10 (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 97 minutes. Rush's script was featured on the 2008 Blacklist, an online list of the most liked unproduced scripts around. Filming took place in Arizona. The film was only released in half a dozen countries. It opened #15 with 0.7 mil. $ in North America, where it peaked in just 245 theaters. It made under 100k $ in each three of its foreign  markets (South Africa, Brazil and the UK), which are reported. Regrettably, poor distribution and audiences bailing on Ferrell in an attempt at a more serious film seem to have killed the film theatrically. Everything Must Go is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Everything Must Go?

The Rum Diary (2011) or, The Puerto Rican Adventure of Mr. Kemp

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+ Best Comeback Movie of the Year (Bruce Robinson and Johnny Depp)

Johnny Depp looks dapper on this poster for Bruce Robinson's The Rum Diary

Paul Kemp is a failed writer, who has taken a job as a journalist on the English-language newspaper in Puerto Rico. One of the island's young rich men offers him something else, but Kemp is more interested in the man's girlfriend...

The Rum Diary features Johnny Depp's (From Hell (2001)) probably best performance since The Libertine (2004), (if we don't count his second run as Cap. Jack Sparrow in the entertaining first sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006).) - He's on fire here! 
The film is the second adaptation of a book by Hunter S. Thompson, following Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which also starred Depp in the leading gonzo journalist role. Rum Diary is adapted and directed by another wild English director, Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I (1987)), and it's the first film he has directed in 19 years! (Ever since Jennifer 8 (1992)).
At first I was a little disappointed about Robinson's approach to the material, which feels about 90% more sober, straight and downplayed compared to Gilliam's great, wacky film.
But then fairly soon this wildly enjoyable third world adventure took a solid grip in me anyway, especially due to the originality of the story and the excellent actors at play in it: Michael Rispoli (Rob the Mob (2014)) as Kemp's buddy Sala; Giovanni Ribisi (Ted (2012)) is hysterical as an alcoholic; Richard Jenkins (The Kingdom (2007)) is perfect as a disillusioned, wig-bearing editor; Amber Heard (Pineapple Express (2008)) is dreamy; Aaron Eckhart (Any Given Sunday (1999)) is infuriating as a bona fide douche-bag, and Bill Smitrovich (Eagle Eye (2008)) is larger-than-life as another total asshole. - They all make The Rum Diary a very entertaining, good time.

Related posts:
 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
 

Watch the funny trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 23.9 mil. $
= Huge flop
[The Rum Diary came out nearly 2½ years after its production. Robinson has related that he drank while writing the script and also during the shoot, which was done on location in Puerto Rico. The film opened to a weak 5.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 13.1 mil. $ (55 % of the total gross) and was greeted by lukewarm reviews. It stands as one of several very costly flops in Depp's recent track record as a starring actor (Dark Shadows (2012), The Lone Ranger (2013), Transcendence (2014), and Mortdecai (2015) all contribute to the regrettable statistics), but he has still said that he is interested in playing the lead in yet another of his late friend Thompson's novels. Film Excess hopes to see him back in B.O. shape later this year in Barry Levinson's highly anticipated gangster movie Black Mass.]

What do you think of The Rum Diary?
Are you eager to see Depp play Whitey Bulger in Black Mass (2015)?

Crazy Heart (2009) or, The Weary Kind

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+ Best Music Movie of the Year

A scruffy-looking Jeff Bridges with a guitar on the poster for Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart

QUICK REVIEW:

Bad Blake lives the destructive life on the road as a touring musician, which comes with his name and the shitty venues he gets booked at. He meets a wonderful woman in Santa Fe, but SPOILER the booze gets to become fateful for him.

Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski (1998)), winning his only Oscar so far for the effort, acts well, and so does his co-stars,Colin Farrell (Minority Report (2002)) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary (2002)), who was Oscar-nominated for her performance.
The music by T Bone Burnett (Walk the Line (2005)) and Stephen Bruton (Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas (1991)) is terrific, and Burnett also won the Best Original Song Oscar along with Ryan Bingham (The Bridge (2013-14)) for their The Weary Kind.
Crazy Heart is a fine, warm, down-played Americana serving, a romantic drama in a blanket of country music. However, it is actually so subdued in its languid pace that it just manages to get by on its charm without getting boring. The suspense curve is almost non-existing.
It is the successful debut of Virginian Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace (2013)), who adapted the script from a 1987 novel by Thomas Cobb. Cooper is busy now with the big gangster movie Black Mass (2015) about Whitey Bulger.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: 47.4 mil. $
= Big hit
[Funded by Country Music Television, the film was pitched for a direct-to-DVD-release, but was then picked up for theatrical release by Fox Searchlight Pictures and made 39.4 mil. (83 % of its gross) in the US, where it hit home with a lot of people.]

What do you think of Crazy Heart?
Other fine country music movies?