Overview
In this unconventional biopic, legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker (Ethan Hawke) must relearn his craft in the late '60s after his front teeth are knocked out during a mugging. As he strives to get his career back on track and overcome his heroin addiction, he receives support from his new girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo), an actress who was cast to play his lover in a movie about his life. Written and directed by Robert Budreau, BORN TO BE BLUE made its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Robert Budreau - Director
Ethan Hawke
Carmen Ejogo
Callum Keith Rennie
Details
- Format: DVD
- Run Time: 97
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 030306945897
- Genre: DRAMA
- Rating: R (MPAA)
- Release Date: July 2016
Movie Reviews
Reviews:
"[T]he film is given a spark of life by the inspired casting of Ethan Hawke. The actor may not look a lick like Baker, but his weathered pretty-boy face fits the troubled trumpeter-vocalist’s legend to a T; in a delicate performance, he emotes subtle notes of tragedy and manipulation..." - 03/24/2016 A.V. Club
"By keeping the movie's goals and scale modest, Budreau makes something that should resonate with Baker fans and newcomers alike....Ethan Hawke projects an appealing fragility as Baker, playing the trumpeter as gentle, soulful and deeply embarrassed by his failures." - 03/24/2016 Los Angeles Times
3 stars out of 4 -- "The film is carried by the performance of Ethan Hawke, a performance that understands Baker's appeal, Baker's demons and eventual unwillingness to fight those demons, as well as an exploration of the thing that was beyond Baker's control..." - 03/25/2016 RogerEbert.com
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Everything that makes Ethan Hawke an extraordinary actor -- his energy, his empathy, his fearless, vanity-free eagerness to explore the deeper recesses of a character -- is on view in BORN TO BE BLUE." - 03/24/2016 Rolling Stone
"In Mr. Hawke’s extraordinary performance, this glamorous enigma becomes a credible, if pathetic character who lives for only two things: to play the trumpet and to shoot heroin." - 03/24/2016 New York Times
"The film does its job if it encourages people to give that music a listen." - 04/07/2016 Boston Globe
3 stars out of 5 -- "[Y]ou could argue that this reimagining of the 1960s comeback of jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker is closer in spirit to the riffing, improvisational nature of his music than a straight biopic could ever be." - 07/24/2016 Observer