Born to Be Blue

Great photography, good direction and decent acting gave substance to this movie, which unluckily suffered from a poor script. The plot is too diffuse and the characters appear to be poorly structured. While the idea of showing Chet Baker during his struggle to regain ability to play the trumpet is okay, the film focuses too much on the role of his relationship with Jane in his comeback. To the viewer it is never really clear why this relationship started and on what it is based on. Chet is presented from one direction, he doesn't really change during the movie and he is never really introduced, this leaves a gap that makes it harder to follow the character in his struggling.

Holy Chet! The Chet Baker biopic "Born to Be Blue" was a whopper of a film. Its suave style is reminiscent of another Baker jazzy film, which is the classic "The Fabulous Baker Boys". Chet Baker was a renowned trumpeter and jazz legend who had a near lifelong addiction to heroin. "Born to Be Blue" focuses on Baker in his 40's. His career has gone down the tubes, he gets brutally beaten by some drug dealers, and he cannot play his trumpet due to his injuries to his mouth. Baker then meets a beautiful aspiring actress named Jane who plays as an inspiration for Chet to get sober and make a jazzy comeback. Writer-Director Robert Budreau plays all the right tones in his direction and screenplay of the picture. Steve Cosens' cinematography was a picturesque mastery that should get him many encores to work in other movies. Ethan Hawke does not blow it at all as Baker; in fact, his Baker Act is the best performance of his illustrious career. His work as Baker is born to be an Oscar. Carmen Ejogo was sweet music to my ears in her performance as both Jane and Baker's ex-wife Elaine who was shown in flashbacks. Callum Keith Rennie manages to do some fine work as Baker's longtime manager Dick. The music of "Born to Be Blue" was a grand piece of Chet. I have no doubt that this movie will be in my Top 10 or even 5 of my favorite films of 2016. I was absolutely enamored with this stupendous movie! True "Born to Be Blue", baby I love you! ***** Excellent

1) Hawke sings like garbage, Chet sang brilliantly. 2) Why didn't they use the original Chet recordings, why re-record everything thus cheapening the music? 3) Why did the film makers and Ethan Hawke etc. not ask / get permission from The Chet Baker estate to make this film? Chet's son / family is trying to sue them now! as they should. I hope that they are successful. 4) Last and MOST IMPORTANTLY: read Artt Frank's book "Chet Baker The Missing Years" to get the TRUE story about Mr. Baker's life during this time period. When I watched this movie, after studying the music and life of Chet Baker since 1989, I considered the film's story line to be about 75% historically wrong. Now that I've just read Artt Frank's book, I assure you - it's at least 95% wrong. Completely wrong! This to me is a huge insult to one of Jazz music's all time greatest geniuses - Chet Baker. - Piano Man Larry Hunt, 10/25/16

Ethan Hawke stars in this beautifully acted portrayal of jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker during his prime. Know that the film treats the facts of Baker's actual biography, as one reviewer said, more like a chord chart than a score and riffs from there. What is true-to-life is that Baker was an only child, born on a lonely ranch in Yale, Oklahoma, and went on to have numerous relationships with women and a long-term relationship with heroin. Musically, he was a progenitor of West Coast Swing, but always had his eye on the New York scene, with the mantra: "Look out Dizzy, look out, Miles. There's a little white California boy coming for you." An accident when Baker was 12 caused him to lose a front tooth, after which he had to re-learn to play the trumpet. That was a mere warmup to the effort he had to put in after his drug dealer pistol-whipped him and knocked out all of his front teeth, destroying his embouchure. Yet, he couldn't stay away from heroin. He thought it made his playing better, and he was all about his music. While Baker had a great talent for improvisation and sustaining a melodic line, he had no talent at all for being happy. After one important comeback milestone, his manager (Callum Keith Rennie) asks, "Would you try to be happy for more than ten seconds?" This line provides the ironic overlay to the choice of title for the film, one of Baker's big hits. Hawke did the films vocals; the trumpet playing was by Canadian trumpeter Kevin Turcotte. Written and directed by Robert Budreau, the movie has an opening scene that shows how a girl he picked up after a performance casually introduced him to heroin, and he didn't say no. This scene turns out to be part of a movie being made about him and whether such a significant life event happened in such an offhand way, we don't know. The insertion of black and white scenes, some of which may be from the movie (which was never finished) or from his memory, plays with the order of events, especially early in the film, an improvisational approach to history that mimics jazz music itself. Although Baker does get clean for a several years as he is recovering his playing ability, a return to heroin remains a risk in the music business. As his parole officer says, "You go into a barber shop and sit in the chair long enough, you're going to get a haircut." Still, his parole officer, his girlfriend—the delectable Carmen Ejogo (playing a composite of several women)—his manager, and many musicians wanted him to succeed, including Dizzie Gillespie and Gerry Mulligan. Miles Davis, notoriously prickly, was not a fan, and we'll get a chance to get his side of the story in the biopic with Don Cheadle, coming soon.

source: Born to Be Blue

"Real talent always flourishes, but then there's the type that promises more than they can fulfill." Chet Baker (Hawke) is one of the best trumpet players in the world. He has played with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and can hold his own. After getting out of jail he attempts a comeback. Movies and music come back easy to him, until his drug habit takes over and everything he knows and has is threatened. This movie has two things going against it right off the bat. First, it comes out shortly after the Miles Davis movie with Don Cheadle. Second, this person is not nearly as well known as Miles Davis was. That said, I still like jazz and bio-pics so I was hoping this would be good. It is hard not to compare the two movies since I just saw the other one last week. I thought Miles Ahead was a little better, mainly because it seemed to move a little faster and there was more than just this happened to him, and then this happened. Neither of the movies however were amazing or classics along the lines of Ray or Walk the Line. What this movie had was terrific acting. I have never been a real big Ethan Hawke fan, but I really think he could get a nomination for this one. He is the reason to watch. Overall, a decent movie about a person I had never heard of but became interested as it went along. Hawke is the real reason to watch though. I give this a B-.

Born to Be Blue The key to being a successful musician/drug addict is picking the most lucrative genre in which to perform. Unfortunately, the strung-out artist in this drama chose Jazz. Failing to pay his drug debts, jazz heartthrob Chet Baker (Ethan Hawke) has his front teeth kicked in in front of his new girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo). Unable to play his horn he must now answer to a parole officer who requires him to find a real job. While he agrees to undergo drug treatment, Chet refuses to give-up performing, even though his new affliction leaves him sounding like an amateur. While Hawke turns in a remarkable portrayal of the embattled Baker, the Baker he is depicting isn't the real Chet Baker, but a fictional account of the addict that uses his bumpy history and embellishes it with substantial poetic license. Besides, junkies make the worst fans because they never leave after the concert. Yellow Light vidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Ethan Hawke is my favorite actor and I make it a point never to miss his movies. Just for that reason I know about 'Born to be Blue'. Where I live, this movie will never get screened in a movie hall, I'll never find a DVD and it will probably rarely be ever shown on TV. I guess even in Canada(Chet Baker's home country), not many have seen it yet. Such is the low profile of Ethan Hawke's art cinema role preferences that most of the times people come to know about these movies long after they are released. That trend is in-fact exemplified by this semi-fictional biopic about Chet Baker, the prolific jazz trumpeter, heroin addict and a free spirit. The story is a bit of a noir mixed with real life incidents. It plays like a heroin fueled jazz improvisio. Chet Baker, the artist on whose life it is based on, was a bit of an enigma himself. Starting way back in the heydays of jazz, Chet was a white artist making his mark in the black dominated music scene. Estranged from his father and addicted to substance abuse, he was on a lookout for love that was always around the corner but never enough. A typical self destructive musician. The biggest crest in the plot comes in the form of actual physical harm. Details are unclear but some rivalries lead to him getting beaten up and losing his ability to play the trumpet. We see a lot of movies about 'comebacks' but this one is real. It is not just about overcoming defeat or depression. It is about finding yourself being propelled by passion and passion alone to achieve something impossible. Ethan Hawke has done it again! Ever since Gattaca, I have found his performance mesmerizing. As Chet Baker, he embodies the pain and madness of a jazz artist so brilliantly that you would forget the flaws of the person and start loving him for what he is. Oh! and Hawke sings in his own voice in two of the songs. Soundtrack of the movie consists of some of the best Jazz standards and songs performed by David Braid. So, if you're a jazz aficionado then you should not miss it for the world. Carmen Ejogo is a fresh face from England and plays the persistent love interest of Chet in the film. This is her first performance that I've come across and she is scintillating. To say that her role is split in two parts is enough preview without spoiling the rest. I implore you to go watch this film. Go with a lover if you can because it is about heartbreaks more than personal struggles.

I don't think this is a great film, not by a long shot. That may sound critical, but it's how I feel. I think it sidesteps many more interesting directions it could have gone in and instead chooses the safer, more predictable route a lot of the time. More than anything though, it serves as a vehicle for Ethan Hawke. He's always been a very solid, very reliable actor, but he doesn't really get many meaty dramatic roles like this. He does wonders with the role and really makes the lead character as likable as he could be, taking into account the circumstances. Definitely a solid watch and definitely a film for Ethan Hawke fans who wish he would get more parts like this. Some really great music as well.

It was like a blues music, and the title explains the whole movie. The protagonist, Chat Baker is a person who cannot live without heroin and trumpet. These two things does not let him to get any other kind of happiness. Ethan Hawke's acting was good enough to make Chat Baker's miserable life look romantic. He suffered between his desires, walked a path of agony, but while he walked through the path, he looked beautiful, and he seemed the person who was born to walk that path. Also, I loved the ending. I cannot think of any possible alternative ending, because it is like an ending note of a song, and any other note cannot complete it.