kev@apollo.HP.COM (Kevin Romano) (10/20/89)
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS
A film review by Kevin Romano
Copyright 1989 Kevin Romano
This film has a lot going for it and a lot not going for it. It has a
great beginning and ending, pieced together with a yawn-filled middle section.
It was written and directed by the same man, whose name I don't remember.
Anyway, let me explain myself.
Traditional screenplay format allows for a beginning, a middle and an
ending. The middle section is the longest because it has to carry the weight
of the dramatic development of the theme, which has been proposed in the
beginning and will be resolved in the ending. The main trouble with the
writing of the screenplay for THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS is that there is almost
no development in the middle section. It's almost as if the film could have
gone from beginning to ending for all the development that takes place in the
middle. It's not that there isn't any, but that it is so meager and rather
unconvincing. At one point I was wishing the film would hurry up and get over.
Don't take this to mean you should avoid this film, because that would be a
mistake. The film has lots of other things going for it.
Although Hollywood nepotism has brought us lots of people we'd just as
soon forget about. I don't count Lloyd Bridges' sons, Jeff and Beau, amongst
them. Jeff Bridges has become a terrific actor. Unfortunately, in this film
the director does a miserable job of bringing out his character's weaknesses -
weaknesses on which the plot rests. Beau Bridges, on the other hand, does a
fabulous job in his part. In fact, when he is missing from the middle section
of the film it begins to drag. He is completely convincing and I recommend
anyone who takes an interest in acting to watch him in this film. His
performance and the direction of his character are first class.
Michelle Pfeiffer, too, does a top-notch job of acting - and, rather
surprisingly, she can also sing. It's wonderful to watch actors like Jeff
Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer develop their acting skills over time. It makes
you want to go see what new thing they will bring to the screen next time.
Only a few other actors have this refreshing approach. I refer to people like
Meryl Streep, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman. Michelle, as we know, is a
physically beautiful person. Of course, sexual attraction is subjective.
Michelle does not come across in this film as the type of person you would want
to have an off-hand fling with, even though she plays the part of an
ex-call-girl. For me in this film she is definitely the bring home to mother
type. Perhaps I should personally analyse why I feel that way. It's puzzling
to me why I would want to bring Michelle's character home to mother while
Michelle's performance is so, shall we say, 'worldly'. At any rate this brings
up one very important reason why we the audience go to movies in the first
place. That is, of course, to learn about ourselves.
There's a lot of very nice minor touches in this film; some decent music,
a very nice crane shot near the beginning, a convincing bit actress in a
bedroom scene, also in the beginning, some fuuny comedy, as well as a wonderful
"showdown" scene between the Baker boys. There are also some nasty plot holes
to watch out for.
I feel I have to add one more objection and that is, overall, the plot,
its development, and resolution turn out to cost the characters next to
nothing. The film has a happy, upbeat ending. I like that. What I don't like
is when the decisions the characters make in a film don't cost them anything.
As we know there are no free lunches in life. We, as Americans, don't expect
any. Decisions we make often cause the course of our entire lives to change.
There is pain involved - a failing business, an unhappy choice of profession, a
divorce, forced separation from loved ones - on and on. THE FABULOUS BAKER
BOYS is a little too neat, too pat, too removed from the consequences of our
choices for my taste.
So what I suggest is that you go see this movie, even though it is uneven.
It has things to not recommend it, but lots that do. It's one of those films
that you can learn from. I would especially have liked to have strangled the
director's ideas for the (un)development of Jeff Bridges' character. See if
you agree; you'll have some very nice moments along the way.
-- Kevin Romanoleeper@mtgzx.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) (10/31/89)
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1989 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Slow and bland story casts real
brothers as character brothers in a slow, deliberately paced
film about a piano-bar act. Pleasant but not really
engaging. Rating: +1.
I don't know--what you can say about a quart of vanilla ice cream? THE
FABULOUS BAKER BOYS is the story of two brothers, Jack Baker (played by Jeff
Bridges) and his brother Frank (played by his brother Beau). For 31 years
they have played piano together and by now they have become an institution
on the cocktail bar circuit. This is a film about the highs and lows of the
cocktail piano game., where the highs don't get very high and the lows are
only a little bit bluesy, and the men are laid back as all get out. As we
meet our intrepid heroes they are just sort of getting along but they could
be doing better. Brother Frank decides that the group could use a female
vocalist so they audition and end up with sultry Suzie Diamond (played and
actually sung by Michelle Pfeiffer). With Suzie's singing they start doing
okay. They get some better bookings. On the horizon is a little low-key
romance and a little low-key conflict.
Steven Kloves, who wrote and directed, does have have considerable feel
for his characters and his occasional comedy, light like almost everything
else in this film, does work well some of the time. A case in point is a
scene with Jack and Suzie, sharing a suite of rooms in a posh hotel,
checking out each other's toiletries. Also neatly handled is a telethon the
brothers sign to play at Frank's insistence, only to find it is a high
school production to earn money for a gymnasium.
This is a style of filmmaking we have not seen for a while, perhaps
since the Forties. The film builds a sort of laid-back piano bar mood and
is never anxious to get anywhere. Pfeiffer gets full marks as a steamy
torch singer, but when she is not singing she just squeaks by as acceptable.
One may speculate that the sibling rivalry of the title characters may
reflect some sibling rivalry of the actors, but it is hard to be sure. If
the film is watchable, it is mostly for the attraction of the actors. The
story itself is as slow and languorous as one of Ms. Pfeiffer's songs. Rate
the film a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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