With Christmas in the rear view mirror, our attention turns towards New Year's Eve. And for that occassion, this week's edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post turns to a romantic comedy from 1989 called The Fabulous Baker Boys, written and directed by Steve Kloves with brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges starring as the titular musicians and Michelle Pfeiffer playing lounge singer Susie Diamond.
The Fabulous Baker Boys are a piano duo consisting of brothers Jack (Jeff Bridges) and Frank Baker (Beau Bridges). For 15 years, they have been performing show tunes in bars and lounges throughout Seattle, Washington on a pair of matching grand pianos.
Frank is the the duo's manager, still devoted to keeping the act a going concern. Frank is married with kids which can be a problem for the uncertain itinerant life of a lounge performer.
Brother Jack is younger, more irresponsible, flitting from one night stand to another.
Jack is tired of the Fabulous Baker Boys. But he lacks the spark, the initiative to leave his brother and the act. Occasionally Jack sits in at a local jazz club to actually play music he cares about.
A decline in bookings leads Frank to hire a female singer to revive interest in their act.
Susie Diamond gets the gig despite showing up late for the audition but she is an impressive singer and performer.
The new trio gets more and better paying gigs which leads to an offer of an extended engagement at a luxury resort through New Year's Eve.
Jack and Susie flirt with each other cautiously in-between gigs, but neither acts upon their feelings and Frank forbids Jack from pursuing Susie in fear that a relationship between the two would compromise the group's stability and newfound success.
You can guess what happens next?
OK, let me tell you one thing that happens next.
Susie Diamond oozing sexiness while sliding all over Jack's grand piano for a sultry performances of "Makin' Whoopee".
Freaking.!!
Damn!!!
Of course everything that Frank feared would go wrong when Jack and Susie began having sex goes wrong.
Susie gets an offer to sing in Los Angeles which pays better. (Granted the gig is singing jingles for cat food.)
Without Susie, the Fabulous Baker Boys are no longer so fabulous and Jack finally confronts Frank that he wants to quit the act. It does not go well and they get in a physical fight that injures Frank's hands.
The Fabulous Baker Boys are done.
Frank trades the unstable life of a lounge performer for life as a music teacher which creates a stable secure life for his wife and children.
Jack is off to pursue his dreams as a jazz pianist.
And also Susie.
There is a lot to unpack in The Fabulous Baker Boys. To call this a "romantic comedy" is to dismiss the depth of this film.
Author Joseph H. Kupfer identified "sibling love, conflict, artistry, and survival" among topics the film explores
In a review of the film, Alan Jones of Radio Times described The Fabulous Baker Boys as a "salute to family, romance, friends and disillusionment".
Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times wrote that, although Jack and Susie are the film's romantic couple, its true love story is between Jack and Frank.
Film Threat said, with Susie, "there's no heart of gold. There's just a heart, one that keeps Jack at highway's length, merely working with him at first, but soon enough the attraction happens, though in an atypical way because these two are atypical. It's not easy and it's not love because this isn't the kind of movie for that."
Film critic Roger Ebert believes "There's probably some autobiographical truth lurking beneath the rivalry of the Bridges brothers, old wounds from the 20 years they have both been working in the movies."
At the time of it's release, The Fabulous Baker Boys did not do well at the box office but it swept up a crap ton of nominations during awards season with Michelle Pfeiffer winning most of the awards she was nominated for.
Me, I found The Fabulous Baker Boys an emotionally engaging film as the Bridges brothers deliver a one-two punch as the complicated Baker brothers who both need each other but also need to learn to let each other go.
And as for Michelle Pfeiffer, well....
Oh!
My!!
God!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment