Born to be Blue

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Robert Budreau/Starring: Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo

Jazz great Chet Baker is the subject of director Robert Budreau's new film Born to be Blue. The story is part of a new breed of film bios that eschew the traditional cradle-to-grave arc we've come to expect in biopic narratives. The new trend in biographical storytelling on film--and a welcome one at that--is to depict the subject at a pivotal juncture or character-defining time in his/her life; emphasizing essence rather than forming a portrait from a series of experiences. But in spite of Budreau's best directorial efforts, the film somehow seems incomplete; as if mood and character (the movie has a surplus of both) have superseded emotional concerns.

Ethan Hawke plays Chet Baker, who we see just before he takes the stage at a Los Angeles nightclub, 1966. Though his reputation in the jazz world has already been established, Baker is nonetheless anxious about the gig; partly because his rival and nemesis, jazz legend Miles Davis, is on hand to gauge the talent. Though the performance proceeds smoothly, the post-gig conversation between the trumpeters is less than amicable. Davis is dismissive of Baker's playing; suggesting he "come back when he has lived a little." More than a little miffed, Baker is reminded a shortly thereafter that Davis' negative response is most likely borne of professional jealousy.

Days later, following a gig at another nightclub, Baker meets a beautiful, African-American actress named Jane (the gorgeous Carmen Ejogo) and though Baker makes a move on her, she initially resists his attentions until she eventualy succumbs to his magnetism. But Baker finds that his darker past is waiting for him outside a bowling alley; a group of black toughs beat him mercilessly as retribution for delinquent payments on heroin; an addiction Jane quickly becomes aware of.

As he recuperates in the hospital, he finds that his upper, front teeth have been knocked out; a critical, physical deficiency that threatens his ability to play trumpet. Facing a possible career-ending injury, Baker decides to leave California with Jane to visit his parents in Oklahoma; a move that leaves him at the mercy of his parole officer, who is unaware of his departure.

Baker finds a cool reception waiting for him upon arrival, particularly from his father, who looks mildly askance at Jane's color. He also wastes little time expressing mild contempt for his son's musical career, which he sees as an avocation, rather than a means to gainful employment. As his parents begin to accept their presence, Baker begins to practice his trumpet extracurricularly. But as he (and we) might expect, his dentures prove to be an impediment to his playing. Ever determined, he continues to practice, hoping to return to Los Angeles with his ability restored.

After Baker and Jane return to L.A., she finds acting roles are scarce and her color an obstacle in the white-controlled movie industry. Meanwhile, Baker's confidence in his playing leads to extensive gigging in the studio, which also serves as a ploy to demonstrate to his parole officer that his music has earning potential and to music industry movers and shakers that he is ready to record and gig. Like Baker's father, the parole office isn't entirely convinced the trumpeter is capable of earning a living with his music. As Baker convinces onlookers of his abilities, his ambitions to record and play a gig at the formidable Birdland become his immediate goals. Providing Baker a confidence boost is Dizzie Gillespie, who visits the studio to find the trumpeter has found his original form.

But in pursuing his come-back, we see that Baker's personal and professional neediness have marginalized Jane and her own career goals. She also remains unconvinced that he has kicked his heroin habit. Put off by his narcissism and his noncommittal attitude toward their relationship, she leaves him, in spite of his needy protestations and his demands that she be present for his Birdland gig. The performance at Birdland serves as a kind of Waterloo in Baker's career; a make or break deal. The looming gig also serves as dramatic tension and a tense build-up to the film's climactic scene. Though Jane is fully aware of the significance of the Birdland performance, she leaves him anyway.

Having so much at stake and so much to prove, Baker proceeds to his Birdland gig, where he finds Miles Davis and significant members of the jazz community are present to hear his performance. The gig provides definitive answers about Baker's music but it also settles questions about his commitment to Jane, who happens to attend the show.

As the movie is mostly fictional; facts are interspersed among a slew of fabrications and character composites. In Budreau's film, essence precedes reality. He gives us an imagined Chet Baker, rather than something entirely literal. I like this method but does the film capture Baker's essence or is the story merely feeble approximations of his character and life? Though we hear Baker's music in the film, how much do we actually learn about it? I would have liked to have learned more about his formative, musical education; the origins of his love for his instrument and jazz.

I'm glad the film doesn't romanticize his heroin addiction. We learn he never overcame his drug-dependency and in fact counted on the drug to allow him to "get inside the notes."

The film never attains any dramatic power; we sympathize with Baker but Budreau never really shows us why the jazz great should matter to us. He only shows us a character movie-goers have come to know so well: the talented, junky-musician who fails at relationships and struggles with a self-destructive streak. The forthcoming Miles Davis biopic might be more of the same though I hope not. Baker was great, but why does he still matter, if he still matters at all? Such is the question I put to Budreau and his screenwriters, which they mostly fail to answer.

But in spite of the film's flaws, I found the performances to be a major selling point. Ethan Hawke is quite terrific as Baker; capturing the man's egoism and his duplicity but also his self-determination; his refusal to allow his physical shortcomings to end his career. I felt Carmen Ejogo nearly stole the film. Ejogo allows us to see Jane's inner strength and her heroic self-emancipation from Baker's self-destructive ways. Ejogo's acting is given firm support by her powerful presence.

After seeing Bruce Weber's excellent 1988 documentary, Let's Get Lost, I always felt a narrative film on Baker's life might be superfluous, which is how I feel about Budreau's biopic. Do I need to know about his life and career? Does this new film illuminate or clarify or dispel myths about the man? What will a lay audience come away with?

I think Born to Be Blue is a fine performance film, but hardly more than that. It may inspire movie-goers to seek out Baker's music or learn more facts about his life but I doubt the film will leave anyone in awe, which is too bad, because he deserves attention and more than just a so-so biopic.