Born to be Blue

1966: Chet Baker, once hailed as the best jazz trumpeter in the world, is on the brink. Things were still looking up for him when he's asked to star in a film about his life, and then he falls in love with fellow trumpeter Jane (Carmen Ejogo), who plays his former wife. But already on the first date it comes to a disaster: Chet runs into his former dealer, who brutally beats him up. In the hospital, he receives a devastating diagnosis: he has to have a prosthetic tooth fitted, with which he will probably never be able to play the trumpet again. The film project falls through, his former producer drops him. But there is also Jane, who gives Chet new courage to face life. With her by his side, he fights his way back into the limelight - but his inner demons just won't let him go.

Born to be Blue is a good, but also quite conventional artist biography. The dramaturgical structure is very reminiscent of the countless biopics about musicians that have come to the cinema in recent years. What makes the film stand out a bit from the crowd is the fact that the story of Chet Baker's deep fall and his hard struggle back into the limelight is really fascinating. The fact that Ethan Hawke handles the difficult role with flying colors also makes the film a very engaging piece of work. But the film also struggles with a few not-so-successful moments. The work itself is a bit reminiscent of jazz: there are very rousing, beautiful parts and then it suddenly becomes very unwieldy and exhausting.

director Robert Budreau celebrates some scenes in extreme slowness, which is quite charming, especially during the musical moments, but which overall keeps slowing down the narrative flow. Moreover, in other moments that may not be entirely unimportant dramaturgically, he lacks the time to devote to them in more detail. The result is that, despite a certain depth, the film ultimately remains too superficial to do justice to a very complex artist like Chet Baker.

While Ethan Hawke succeeds quite well in making up for some of the weaknesses in the production with his finely nuanced performance. But even he can't prevent some exhausting lengths and some immature moments from slightly tarnishing what is in itself a very positive overall impression. But even if the biopic is nowhere near as fascinating and intricate as Chet Baker's playing on the jazz trumpet, the film can definitely be recommended to anyone interested in jazz in general and Chet Baker in particular. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp