Born To Be Blue

Critics Consensus

Born to Be Blue benefits from a highlight-reel performance from Ethan Hawke and an impressionistic, non-hagiographic approach to Chet Baker's life and times.

88%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 116

74%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 6,861
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Movie Info

Ethan Hawke lights up the screen as jazz legend Chet Baker, whose tumultuous life is thrillingly reimagined with wit, verve, and style to burn. In the 1950s, Baker was one of the most famous trumpeters in the world, renowned as both a pioneer of the West Coast jazz scene and an icon of cool. By the 1960s, he was all but washed up, his career and personal life in shambles due to years of heroin addiction. In his innovative anti-biopic, director Robert Budreau zeroes in on Baker's life at a key moment in the 1960s, just as the musician attempts to stage a hard-fought comeback, spurred in part by a passionate romance with a new flame (Carmen Ejogo). Creatively blending fact with fiction and driven by Hawke's virtuoso performance, Born to Be Blueunfolds with all the stylistic brio and improvisatory genius of great jazz.

Cast

Ethan Hawke
as Chet Baker
Carmen Ejogo
as Jane / Elaine
Callum Keith Rennie
as Dick
Stephen McHattie
as Dad
Janet-Laine Green
as Mom
Tony Nappo
as Officer Reid
Dan Lett
as Danny Friedman
Kedar Brown
as Miles Davis
Kevin Hanchard
as Dizzy Gilespie
Tony Nardi
as Nicholas
Barbara Mamabolo
as Janelle
Katie Boland
as Sarah
Janine Theriault
as Florence
Joe Condren
as Actor Dick
Joe Cobden
as Actor Dick
Natassia Halabi
as Jenny
Nat Leone
as Jenny
Barbara Eve Harris
as Elsie Azuka
Eugene Clark
as Henry Azuka
Bruno Rocca
as Italian Prison Guard
Mark Fraser
as Prothodontist
Daniel Kash
Geoff McCausland
as Bassist Peter
Chip Keen
as Sax Steve
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Critic Reviews for Born To Be Blue

All Critics (116) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (102) | Rotten (14)

  • Thanks to Hawke's painstaking recreation of Baker's ill habits and devoted heart, BORN TO BE BLUE is able to eclipse its musical biopic bandmates.

    March 30, 2019 | Rating: B | Full Review…

    Preston Barta

    Fresh Fiction
    Top Critic

  • There's a plethora of jazz biopics around. This one leaves you with a feeling of unfulfilled promise, both in the life it portrays and in itself.

    February 20, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Alexa Dalby

    Dog and Wolf
    Top Critic

  • Hawke is very good here. I'm not his biggest fan, but he gets Baker's distinctive, whispery voice, whether speaking or singing.

    November 27, 2018 | Full Review…

    Steve Murray

    ArtsATL
    Top Critic

  • Presenting a career-best performance from Ethan Hawke, Born to Be Blue earns its place as one of the best jazz movies to grace the screen.

    November 27, 2018 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    Don Shanahan

    Every Movie Has a Lesson
    Top Critic

  • It all works because of Hawke and Ejogo.

    November 27, 2018 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Jeff Simon

    Buffalo News
    Top Critic

  • The movie is slight but silly, goofy without being goony.

    September 27, 2017 | Full Review…

    M. Faust

    The Public (Buffalo)
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (116)

Audience Reviews for Born To Be Blue

  • Jun 23, 2017
    A mature romance/biopic that takes an anguishing look at the life of a self-destructive artist struggling to have his old life back after becoming a heroin addict, with Ethan Hawke conveying an exceptionally nuanced combination of arrogance, vulnerability and determination.
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
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