The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) or, The Seattle Jazz Squabbles

3/12/2019

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) or, The Seattle Jazz Squabbles

♥♥

The three stars stand awkwardly close while grinning on this uncomfortable poster for Steve Kloves' The Fabulous Baker Boys

Two piano-playing brothers in Seattle are forced to reinvent their jazz act and decide to add a sexy escort as a singer, SPOILER who naturally embarks on a relationship with one of them, and there's the trouble.

The Fabulous Baker Boys is written and directed by debuting Steve Kloves (Wonder Boys (2000), screenplay). For me it is a tedious downer; though it was highly praised by critics at its release.
It feels pseudo-sophisticated and is filled with mellow jazz. Michelle Pfeiffer (Grease 2 (1982)) plays the sexpot singer, and she was practically worshiped for her sexual radiance, which to me, - although I like her as an actress, - is not earth-shattering here, (she is way sexier in Tim Burton's masterpiece Batman Returns (1992) in my opinion.) Kloves' script is not believable and not thought through on more than one occasion here.
The story is driven by some torpid characters, especially Jeff Bridges' (Pablo (2012)) Jack. The trio seem like they are slumbering through quite a few scenes, and not many scenes stand out for good, but those that do are: SPOILER Bridges going amuck at a charity show; the brothers starting a fight; and Bridges and Pfeiffer reconnecting in the end.
The Fabulous Baker Boys is way overrated; it is overall a poor film.

Related posts:

Steve Kloves: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) - Harry's abysmally dour and long penultimate chapter (screenplay)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) or, The Anemic British Teen Wizards Fly Again! (screenplay)
Mentioned movie: Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11.5 mil. $
Box office: 18.4 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertain
[The Fabulous Baker Boys was released 13 October (USA) and runs 114 minutes. Only 3 years after Kloves' script was acquired was the film green-lit. Pfeiffer trained voraciously to be able to do her own singing in the film. Shooting took place from December 1988 - March 1989 in Seattle, Washington and in California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #6 to a 3.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it declined from then. The film's international gross numbers are not made public. If it made 25 mil. $ total, it would rate as a flop, but if it made 30 mil. $, it would count as a box office success; both scenarios are possible. The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actress to Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy, Cinematography (Michael Ballhaus) to Freddie Francis for Glory, Editing to Born on the Fourth of July and Score (Dave Grusin) to Alan Menken for The Little Mermaid. The film won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, 1/3 BAFTA noms, a Grammy, 2 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this review. Kloves returned with Flesh and Bone (1993). J. Bridges returned in Texasville (1990); his co-star big brother Beau Bridges (Stargate SG-1 (2005-07)) in Just Another Secret (1989, TV movie) and theatrically in The Wizard (1989); Pfeiffer in The Russia House (1990). The Fabulous Baker Boys is fresh at 96 % with a 7.41/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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3/12/2019

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) or, The Seattle Jazz Squabbles

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