Seven roles that made his name
With a career spanning more than 60 years, Jeff Bridges has been one of Hollywood’s most beloved and versatile actors.
To celebrate his return to action in Disney+’s The Old Man, Stuff to Watch has come up with this list of seven of our favourite Bridges flicks and where you can watch them.
The Big Lebowski (1998, Prime Video) Bridges’ most recognisable, beloved role. He headlines this comedy about a man mistaken for a millionaire, who then seeks restitution for a ruined rug. Julianne Moore, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Philip Seymour Hoffman also star.
Crazy Heart (2009, Disney+) Bridges won the Oscar for Best Actor starring alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall in this drama about a faded country music star who is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life when he embarks on a seemingly doomed romance.
Hell or High Water (2016, various rental services) Filled with dramatic tension, complex characters, rich, dialogue and uncomfortable reflections of the plight of many modern-day Americans, David Mackenzie’s contemporary western is a compelling watch. It boasts terrific performances from Bridges, Chris Pine and Ben Foster.
Seabiscuit (2003, Disney+) Seabiscuit, foaled in 1933, earned almost half a million US dollars for his owner, Charles S Howard, between 1935 and 1940. His rise coincided with the beginning of racing radio broadcasts and a population desperate for escape from the effects of the Great Depression. Starring Bridges, Chris Cooper and Tobey Maguire, this tale focuses on the three men who shared in the glory that was ‘‘the biggest sensation on four legs since Hope and Crosby’’.
Tron (1982, Disney+) Whether it was the neo-n-infused special effects, the lightcycles, or the very idea of being trapped inside a computer game, this family fantasy flick proved Disney could make more than just cartoons and movies suited to two-part Sunday teatime viewing. Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner battle to stay alive against the seemingly undefeatable forces of the Master Control Program.
True Grit (2010, Netflix) In a role first made famous by John Wayne in 1969, Bridges is outstanding as the taciturn Rooster Cogburn in the Coen brothers’ adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel. His boozy, trigger-happy lawman is enlisted by a stubborn teenager (Hailee Steinfeld in a stunning debut) determined to track down her father’s killer in 1870s America. Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper also feature.
Tucker: the Man and His Dream (1988, iTunes) Francis Ford Coppola spent 15 years trying to make this biopic about Preston Tucker, the maverick car designer who attempted to take on the ‘‘big boys’’ of the American automotive industry. He planned to make Marlon Brando his leading man and tell the story as a musical but, in the end, he got a brilliant turn from Bridges, ably supported by the likes of Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Christian Slater and Dean Stockwell.