7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
Brothers Jack and Frank Baker have been playing lounges as a piano duo for many years but decide they now need a female vocalist to keep the act going. They are lucky to come across Susie Diamond, who can really put a song over, and the act takes off. But when the relation between Susie and Jack - younger, less committed, but more talented than Frank - briefly becomes more than professional, tensions surface between all three.
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges, Xander Berkeley, Dakin MatthewsRomance | 100% |
Music | 74% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It’s not always easy, but it’s similarly very rarely dull, to be a lounge pianist, as I can tell you from years (decades, but who’s counting?) of personal experience. I’ve encountered funny little things like what I call “dyslexic requesting,” where I would play a tune and then ten or fifteen minutes later some audience member would come up and ask for that song, obviously responding to some subliminally planted “suggestion,” since (as virtually any lounge pianist will tell you), the live music tends to become part of the background, almost like wallpaper. I’ve also had other somewhat more outré things happen, including a gig I had as a young 20-something on a raucous Friday evening at a “happening” nightclub where a probably inebriated woman came up, sat down next to me on the piano bench and then promptly (and incredibly quickly) shoved her hand down my pants, causing me to play one of the most severely altered dominant seventh chords ever created (that’s a little theory joke for those of you who are music geeks). I’ve even performed in a number of cabaret or theatrically inclined shows with various chanteuses where they have in fact perched atop a grand piano for a tune or two, an image made famous by Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys, a film which takes a somewhat whimsical but at times surprisingly accurate look at this rather odd career choice. The chief conceit of the film is that there is not one, but two, lounge pianists, the titular siblings Jack (Jeff Bridges) and Frank (Beau Bridges), who have managed to cling to a middlingly “successful” run (a decidedly relative term) as a duo, a la the celebrated pair of Ferrante and Teicher. When a "third wheel" of sorts, a sultry vocalist named Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) is hired to spice up the act, various entanglements ensue, porting the film over into somewhat more traditional but still surprisingly fresh feeling romantic comedy territory.
The Fabulous Baker Boys is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. This transfer has a generally somewhat soft look, one that is perhaps reinforced by its requisite dark, smoky club scenes, where detail can be a bit spotty at times. While shadow detail remains generally good, when the boys are clad in their fancy tuxes, those satiny black jackets come perilously close to merging with shadowy backgrounds on occasion. As should be expected, when the film ventures out of doors during the day or exploits brightly lit environments, the uptick in detail is noticeable. While colors appear generally accurate, the palette is slightly anemic looking at times (contrast the pale tones in the first screencapture with the nicely vivid red of Pfeiffer's dress in screenshot 3 for at least some indication of variances). The elements have a somewhat higher than average rate of minor issues like dirt and nicks. Grain structure is consistent and resolves in an appealingly natural manner.
The Fabulous Baker Boys features a bright and attractive sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which more than capably supports the film's wonderful musical moments as well as dialogue scenes. The lack of a surround track actually only reinforces the somewhat intimate feel of the lounge scenes. Clarity is excellent and there's no tinniness or wobbliness to the reproduction of the piano tones, even in those "tinkly" upper registers. Fidelity is fine and there are no problems of any kind to warrant concern.
- Writer-Director Steve Kloves, hosted by Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman
- Director of Photography Michael Ballhaus
I opened for the Smothers Brothers at a charity function in Seattle many years ago, and after the sound check I ventured out into some downtown mall where an "anonymous" (to me, anyway) pianist was doing an absolutely remarkable slow ballad version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's lovely "Wave," a rendition replete with some of the most stunning chord substitutions I have ever heard. While "headliners" tend to flock toward Seattle institutions like Jazz Alley, this anecdote is perhaps just one indication of the depth of talent Seattle offers in the jazz piano arena. The Fabulous Baker Boys might be thought of as yet another prime exhibit in the incredibly large array of great musicians who have never grabbed the (Los Angeles and/or New York) brass ring, but who bring technical mastery and inventive thinking to their playing. The film's examination of this peculiar way of making a living is of course one of its central pleasures, but despite this perhaps odd specificity, there's a universality to the fractious relationship between the brothers that even those who wouldn't know a diminished from a demented chord will find instantly accessible. Technical merits are generally very good (video) to excellent (audio), and the two commentaries are also enjoyable. Highly recommended.
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