A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Donald Elise Watkins
- Brock Mumford
- (as Donald Watkins)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was originally filmed in 2007 with Anthony Mackie starring as Bolden. Director Dan Pritzker thought that what he had shot "just didn't work", so he shelved it. Extensive rewrites and reshoots took place from 2009 to 2010, but Pritzker shelved the film again.
Three months of even more reshoots were scheduled from 2014 to 2015, with a mostly new cast and crew. Mackie, whose career had taken off in the interim, was no longer available, so he was replaced by Gary Carr. (Mackie still appears as Bolden in Louis (2010), which was filmed at at the same time as this film and completed first.)
Several more days of reshoots took place in 2016, and the film was finally completed in 2018 and released in 2019. According to Pritzker, a little over 10% from the original 2007 shoot remains in the finished film.
Featured review
Style Over Substance
The story could have been told more clearly. I understand that they were trying to mirror the flashbacks of an insane genius, but it would have worked just fine if the story had a little more order and clarity. I honestly figured from the trailer that the storytelling might have been off, but I was so drawn in by the music and the overall look of the movie that I still just had to see it. Despite some major drawbacks in plot, I do not regret watching it at all. The music! That's what I came for. The actor playing Bolden wasn't half bad to look at either. The actor playing his manager (who also had a significant role on Boardwalk Empire) has a look that seems to fit that time period so well. He is fun to watch on screen. Not much to the plot, but the look and sound (the sound!!!) of this film definitely worth the watch. If you like jazz or if you don't, watch it for the music. Now that I've finished I can do some of my own research into Buddy Bolden who seems like a fascinating enigma.
helpful•102
- allisonstarrh
- Dec 24, 2019
Details
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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