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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.
All Critics (116) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (102) | Rotten (14)
Born to be Blue is perhaps a too-clever fictionalised take on the life of the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, although Ethan Hawke's performance as the musician is as compelling as it is painful. Oct 10, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Born to be Blue is perhaps a too-clever fictionalised take on the life of the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, although Ethan Hawke's performance as the musician is as compelling as it is painful.
Kate Muir
Hawke portrays Baker as a little boy lost: selfish, sweet, insecure, arrogant, impossible to live with. Jul 25, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Hawke portrays Baker as a little boy lost: selfish, sweet, insecure, arrogant, impossible to live with.
Cath Clarke
Becomes so wedded to stodgy melodrama that you wind up thinking it's a bore to be that blue and just want to hear the man play. Jul 24, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Becomes so wedded to stodgy melodrama that you wind up thinking it's a bore to be that blue and just want to hear the man play.
Charlotte O'Sullivan
You feel closer to Chet than you did coming in - and is this Hawke's greatest role? Jul 24, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
You feel closer to Chet than you did coming in - and is this Hawke's greatest role?
Trevor Johnston
A serious, worthwhile film. Jul 21, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
A serious, worthwhile film.
Peter Bradshaw
Budreau, who stages several breathtaking scenes of Baker playing against the vast open sky during a visit to his parents' farm in Oklahoma, successfully gets to the root of his subject. Apr 22, 2016 | Rating: B | Full Review…
Budreau, who stages several breathtaking scenes of Baker playing against the vast open sky during a visit to his parents' farm in Oklahoma, successfully gets to the root of his subject.
Adam Graham
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. Mar 30, 2019 | Rating: B | Full Review…
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.
Preston Barta
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. Feb 20, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
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.
Alexa Dalby
Hawke is very good here. I'm not his biggest fan, but he gets Baker's distinctive, whispery voice, whether speaking or singing. Nov 27, 2018 | Full Review…
Hawke is very good here. I'm not his biggest fan, but he gets Baker's distinctive, whispery voice, whether speaking or singing.
Steve Murray
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. Nov 27, 2018 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
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.
Don Shanahan
It all works because of Hawke and Ejogo. Nov 27, 2018 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
It all works because of Hawke and Ejogo.
Jeff Simon
The movie is slight but silly, goofy without being goony. Sep 26, 2017 | Full Review…
The movie is slight but silly, goofy without being goony.
M. Faust
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.
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