Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides (2011)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
American Masters episode takes a look at the career of Jeff Bridges as his friends and family discusses why he's so special and why he's become one of the more popular actors over the past couple decades. Throughout the films his co-workers and directors all mention that he's great because you can't tell he's an actor. Instead of seeing a performance you just see a character that Bridges becomes without much effort. Bridges himself is interviewed here and admits that he's lazy and he tries to find the easiest way to get through a role and this laid-back nature really comes across. The documentary takes a look at countless films including THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, FAT CITY, AGAINST ALL ODDs, STARMAN, KING KONG, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, THE FISHER KING and more recent films like TRUE GRIT and TRON: LEGACY (it doesn't mention the original film). I think fans of the actor are going to enjoy seeing Bridges at home as he gives quite a bit of an interview but even nicer is that we get to see him doing other things including playing the guitar and piano as well as painting and drawing. Those interviewed include his brother Beau and sister as well as Taylor Hackford, Robin Williams, Peter Bogdanovich, Terry Gilliam, Karen Allen and Stacey Keach. Each of them have a lot of nice stories to tell and you'll certainly get to hear some great stories from Bridges himself including his relationship with John Huston.
