Rating: 
Summary: Ultimately re-watchable
Review: For whatever reason, I avoided seeing this movie in the theaters 10 years ago & finally watched it on DVD. The Fab Baker Boys is just superb. I'm no means a mega-music fan but was knocked out by the Bridges brothers' piano duos (whether simulated or not) and Michelle Pfieffer (whom I'd recognized as a major beauty and talented actor) I was amazed to find to be a splendid vocalist. The story is great & Ed, the dog, is a hoot.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimately re-watchable
Review: For whatever reason, I avoided seeing this movie in the theaters 10 years ago & finally watched it on DVD. The Fab Baker Boys is just superb. I'm no means a mega-music fan but was knocked out by the Bridges brothers' piano duos (whether simulated or not) and Michelle Pfieffer (whom I'd recognized as a major beauty and talented actor) I was amazed to find to be a splendid vocalist. The story is great & Ed, the dog, is a hoot.
Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS!
Review: How do you attempt to write a review for one of your favorite films? I fondly recall The Fabulous Baker Boys as a cinematic highlight in my life, and know that the following review will probably not do it justice, but well.... In his debut feature, writer-director Steven Kloves' took some very old plot-lines and with care, skill and sheer respect for the film medium, created a minor masterpiece which bears up to repeated viewing and guarantees hours of endless entertainment - trust me, I've seen this film so many times, it's embarrassing to reveal the exact number. For 31 years, Frank and Jack Baker have played piano together. Child stars turned lounge lizards, the two peddle their middle-of-the-road tunes in any bar they can book. Times are tough, and the once fabulous act has grown tired, hackneyed and somewhat embarrassing, especially for younger brother Jack (Jeff Bridges), who's embittered and weary of the muzak he plays, the dead-end life he leads. Older brother Frank (Beau Bridges) sees their act as a business, a means of supporting his wife and children, something to do in order to survive. Unlike Jack, Frank has no dreams of musicality and, quite honestly, he's a hack who doesn't really like what he does, but who is content to keep on doing it. As the duo hit a particularly lean patch, they decide to take on a singer to spice up their act, and after a hilarious montage of terrible wannabes (including a particularly inspired Jennifer Tilly), the dubiously named Suzie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) slinks into their lives and so begins a happy professional collaboration that garners them success, respect and a small measure of fame. Personally, however, Suzie's arrival marks the beginning of the end for Frank and Jack. An ex-social escort too proud to tell the many tearful tales she has, she's a kindred soul for Jack, two cynical losers who may have a chance at happiness. Things turn sour when a commitment phobic Jack bails on Suzie, and she leaves the act. The Baker brothers are reduced again to small-time acts, and in a particularly demeaning engagement, Jack and Frank's long seething resentment and frustrations come to the surface. When the dust settles, each goes his own way, their relationship changed but intact. The question is, would Jack ever stand a chance with Suzie? This film is a smoldering scorcher, packed with pitch perfect performances and a script that is as surprisingly deft as its ideas are old and unoriginal. Steven Kloves' dialogue is music to the ears. He expertly captures the tone and mood of the characters, and crystallizes years of hurt, longing and pain in short, succinct sentences that speak volumes. Using a confident, sure hand, he steers his sleepy, slow-burn script to classic status. The pace is just right, and the languid charm the film possesses is one of its greatest assets. Of course, much of the film's credit must also go to the actors, all of whom are flawless. The top-lining brothers give career-high performances in this film. Beau embodies the domesticated suburban quality which defines Frank so fully that it is hard to imagine him as being any different in real life. Although a somewhat pathetic character, Beau nonetheless finds the dignity and respectability in Frank and it is his clear and honest portrayal of these qualities which make his story so much more poignant and touching than it appears on paper. If there were a "sad" life amongst the trio of leads, Frank's would be the saddest simply because he's chosen to be oblivious to his own disappointments and regrets - the price of fatherhood and of being a husband and provider have forced his hands and shaped his life, and Beau's performance, made up of small revealing gestures and silent looks tells the whole story behind the man. As Jack, Jeff Bridges again turns in a startling portrait of a man gone wrong fighting his way back. Jack Baker has talent, and he knows it; he sticks with Frank because he's lazy, but also because deep down inside, he's fearful of taking the chance and not having anyone to blame should he fail. Everything about Jeff's performance speaks of Jack's abject misery, anger and the restlessness that's always chafing against him. Not only does he look the part, he seems to become the character. It is hard to imagine another actor being able to so fully play the part with the same level of complexity, depth of emotion and completeness. It helps tremendously, as well, that he lights up the screen beautifully opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in a career-altering role. Long relegated to window dressing or showing up in undeserving projects, Pfeiffer's career suffered a major setback due to her involvement in Grease 2. With Sweet Liberty and Into the Night, however, her luck began to change; when The Witches of Eastwick came along, she became a newly-minted star. The Fabulous Baker Boys, however, gave her credibility. As the sexy siren who wreaks havoc in the lives of two brothers, she's a modern-day Lauren Bacall, sensual, intelligent and bruised. Pfeiffer's Oscar-nominated performance here is stunning; there's not a moment where she makes a wrong move or wanders into shaky terrain, and she completes the incredibly realized triangle that Kloves' script has engineered. The scene of Pfeiffer crooning "Makin' Whoopee" whilst lolling about on top of a baby grand piano is often sited as the highlight of modern cinema this film offers. I suggest an alternative: the scene where Suzie makes her stage debut with the Baker boys. Nervous but too tough to admit it, she drops her cue cards, swears colorfully into the microphone and gropes about for a recovery. A frantic Frank then forces a bemused Jack into an impromptu duet of "Ten Cents A Dance" before Suzie returns in fine form and the three of them begin to make lounge music history. As it plays, this scene is amusing, and arguably slight, but the subtext of three desperate souls relying on each other, clinging onto the shreds of dignity they are left with in order to make a shot at something better, and succeeding, is both exhilarating and melancholic. The audience knows that before they go on the stage, the act was nothing; when they leave, they would begin the journey of success and eventually falling apart. The time on that stage was the one moment everything was perfect for them. In a canny and sublime way, The Fabulous Baker Boys captures this magical tension and wonder amongst them, and sustains it for its entire duration. This is one the best films you'll ever see. Trust me on this.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie
Review: I may be a little partial for this movie. I happen to be a die-hard Michelle Pfeiffer fan. She's the most beautiful and talented woman in Hollywood. She really deserved the Oscar. Although the Bridges brothers are great, Pfeiffer steals the picture
Rating:
Summary: great cast great movie.
Review: I own this movie on both vhs and dvd. I watched this film so many times that i lost sound on the vhs version. this is one of my favorite films of all time. This movie shows you that Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is beautiful and talented and she has a set of pipes worth listening to. i suggest everyone should see this movie at least once or youll be missing a great motion picture.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Cool and Well Acted
Review: Jazz music can be considered another character in this moody story of a sibling piano act fraught with frustrations--both professional and personal--that are made more glaring by the addition of a sultry singer to their act. The music underscores the feelings of the characters. The casting is practically perfect, and the writing is exceptional.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: Much has been written and said about Michelle Pfeiffer slinking on the piano while singing "Makin' Whoopee" (one of the most pleasurable scenes in cinematic history), but there's a lot more to the movie. Part romance (will the former call girl and the supercool piano player hit it off?), part family drama (will the two brothers, different in every way except for a love for playing the piano, ever get along?), part comedy, and part musical. Not too heavy, not too light, this movie is just right.
Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: Oohhhhhh, that Michelle Pfeiffer! She can sing to me any time. It's surprising she hasn't tried to do anything else with her singing abilities. She has a fabulous voice.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, original, fresh, and completely believable
Review: Stave Kloves is quite a writer. He manages to create very believable, three-dimensional characters who are free of cliches. Luckily, he gets great performances out of the actors playing those characters, too. This movie introduces people you don't normally see or hear about--those hungry entertainers on the fringes of show business who don't always have the luxury of saying no to a gig. This is also a love story about people who don't know how to let their guard down and suffer accordingly. Somehow it manages to be very funny, too. One of the most underrated films I've seen in years.
Rating:
Summary: ONE TWO THREE TWO ONE
Review: The FABULOUS BAKER BOYS is the kind of movie that you must see with a light heart. If not, its sad atmosphere will certainly give you the blues. Hope is not the main theme of this film starring Michelle Pfeiffer and the Bridges (blues-) brothers. The movie focuses on the three main characters and their relationship. So you'll have a lot of talk and songs but no action at all. It's pretty rare nowadays to have on screen heroes thinking, feeling and becoming better without a single gunshot. Enjoy ! It is to be noticed that Michelle Pfeiffer sings in the FABULOUS BAKER BOYS and she's not bad at all. Furthermore, she is sexier than the average cocktail bar singer. Jeff and Beau are very good too. Very agreeable bonus features with a commentary of the director of photography Michaël Ballhaus who used to work with german director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. An above-average DVD.
|
