Born to Be Blue (2016)

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Blistering performances.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is really difficult to do something new about a jazz musician with a frenzied personal life be it women, alcohol, drugs or all three because it seems that all great jazz musicians had the same issues.Born to be Blue is a lower scale film but thematically not too different from Bird directed by Clint Eastwood back in 1988.Chet Baker was known for his west coast jazz sound. He also had problems with drug addiction and going in and out of prison. When he has his teeth smashed and has to wear dentures, Baker has to learn how to play the jazz trumpet again as well as stay clean when those around him are doubtful.Ethan Hawke gives a gut wrenching performance as Baker trying to start all over again as a musician when previously it had been all so easy. Now no one wants to give him another chance as he has let down so many people down in the past. The film though is low wattage and offers little new though.

This movie is a fictional reconstruction of a short period in the life of Baker, during the 60s. Starting with Chet in an Italian jail in 1966, the story quickly moves to New York, where Chet is invited to play himself in a documentary about his life. Then follows one of the most amazing scenes I ever saw.Opening as a black & white flashback, we see a young Chet in 1954, playing very cool in Birdland, with Miles Davis and Dizzie Gillespie in the audience. In the backstage we see what should be Baker's initiation to heroin, but we discover that the scene is actually part of the documentary.Brilliant film-making is made of such scenes conveying all the magic of cinema. The story continues with Chet trying to rebuild his "career" with a help of a female artist, unfortunate enough to be attracted by his relatively good looks and melancholic charm. The pair moves from New York to California, where Chet swear to be clean and ready to play some serious jazz.Unfortunately, Chet was the master of all junkies, unreliable, selfish and self-destructive. His girlfriend wisely dumps him and off he goes to enjoy the company of heroin until the day he died.I am not a jazz fan and never heard any of the music Baker played, so I cannot comment about the remarks about the music not being good enough or even detrimental to the movie. For me it was a very well written and executed film, with a solid plot and good performances.PS: as far as "blackening the reputation" of Baker... I never understood why junkie musicians should be idolized. The history of contemporary music is paved with unpleasant, self-destructive characters who had exceptional musical skills. Egotism does not make them any less talented, but certainly does not add to their charm. If you want to see what years of heroin addiction do to the body, just check the photos of Chet from his early 20s until the end of his life. The crevasses on his face mirrors the destruction of his internal organs....

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

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.