Born to Be Blue (2015)

A re-imagining of jazz legend Chet Baker's musical comeback in the late '60s.

Director:

Robert Budreau

Writer:

Robert Budreau

Stars:

Ethan Hawke, Carmen Ejogo, Callum Keith Rennie

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ethan Hawke	...	Chet Baker
Carmen Ejogo	...	Jane / Elaine
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Dick Bock
Tony Nappo	...	Officer Reid
Stephen McHattie	...	Chesney Baker Sr.
Janet-Laine Green	...	Vera Baker
Dan Lett	...	Danny Friedman
Kedar Brown	...	Miles Davis
Kevin Hanchard	...	Dizzy Gillespie
Tony Nardi	...	Nicholas
Barbara Mamabolo	...	Janelle
Charles Officer	...	Bowling Alley Thug
Katie Boland	...	Sarah
Janine Theriault	...	Florence
Joe Cobden	...	Actor Dick

Storyline

Born to be Blue starring Ethan Hawke is a re-imagining of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker's life in the 60's. When Chet stars in a film about himself, a romance heats up with his costar, the enigmatic Jane (Carmen Ejogo). Production is shelved when Chet's past comes back to haunt him and it appears he may never play music again but Jane challenges him to mount a musical comeback against all the odds.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to billie holiday | jazz musician | musician as protagonist | comeback | jazz | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use, language, some sexuality and brief violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

30 March 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chet Baker: A Lenda do Jazz

Filming Locations:

Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$46,184, 27 March 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$830,129, 7 July 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,003,337, 1 December 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Real Films,Lumanity Productions,Black Hangar Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ethan Hawke wore prosthetic teeth to get the teeth gap in the first scenes.

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Goofs

Jane holds a stick figure made of vegetables on the set that disappears and reappears between shots.

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Quotes

Chet Baker: Time gets wider, you know. Not just longer.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Ethan Hawke/Freddie Prinze Jr./Ingrid Michaelson (2016)

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Soundtracks

Born to Be Blue
Arranged and Performed by David Braid
Written by Mel Tormé (as Melvin H. Torme) and Robert Wells
Courtesy of Sony ATV and Jewel Music Publishing Co

User Reviews

Beautifully Acted: He Loved His Horn and His Heroin

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.