Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
It’s a story you have heard before. A man who once was great but has since fallen on hard times tries to clean up his act and turn his life around. In the movie Crazy Heart, this old story is given new life by the actor Jeff Bridges. His performance as “Bad Blake,” an alcoholic country music singer hoping for a fresh start, was so good that he recently won an Academy Award for Best Actor. Find out if Bridges’ singing is as good as his acting from Devan and Beren.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Devan: You know how I’m a big fan of country music?
Beren: I didn’t know that.
Devan: I really like old stuff, you know, like Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard. So that’s why I was really excited when I heard that that movie Crazy Heart, that Jeff Bridges, his character is based on all those old guys mixed together.
Beren: Oh yeah, he’s like a down and out alcoholic country musician?
Devan: Yeah, and he’s like trying to get his life back on track. It kind of to me seems like a mix of like The Wrestler meets almost like Jeff Bridges’ other movie, The Big Lebowski.
Beren: He’s getting a second chance at life?
Devan: Yeah, he’s just an alcoholic, down and out guy that’s not doing much with his life, but he’s…
Beren: That’s interesting. Jeff Bridges, I think he actually plays music in real life and he plays with Kris Kristofferson and he knows all those guys, so it’ll be interesting to see what his take on a character like that will be.
Devan: Yeah, definitely. And then Maggie Gyllenhaal plays this young journalist that’s interviewing him about his comeback and everything.
Beren: Ah.
Devan: And she actually was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Beren: Really. She’s a great actress. Let me guess, they fall in love.
Devan: That’s what I’m guessing.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Devan is interested in seeing Crazy Heart because she loves old country music. In the movie, Jeff Bridges plays a down and out alcoholic country singer who tries to get his life back on track. Beren points out that Jeff Bridges is actually a musician in real life.
Crazy Heart is also a love story. In the movie, a young journalist finds “Bad Blake” in order to interview him. The journalist and the musician end up falling in love.
Do you know anyone who got his or her life back on track after being down and out?
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