In 1989, up-and-coming
screenwriter Steve Kloves wrote and directed The Fabulous Baker Boys, an engaging and insightful look at two
piano-playing brothers working the lounge circuit. The film was a critical hit,
but barely made back its modest budget. A few years later, he wrote and
directed Flesh and Bone (1993), an
under-appreciated neo-noir that also failed to connect with a mainstream
audience. Its commercial failure must have hit Kloves hard as he wouldn’t have
another screenplay made until Wonder Boys
in 2000. Since then, he has been the go-to guy for the Harry Potter franchise, which hopefully has given him enough clout
within the industry to write and direct again – it would be a shame if he
squandered the promise showed on his first two films.
The first thing that strikes
one about The Fabulous Baker Boys: it
doesn’t seem like the directorial debut of someone who only had one
screenwriting credit to their name. It helps that Kloves had some pretty
fantastic veterans behind the camera helping him out, like cinematographer
Michael Ballhaus (GoodFellas) and
filmmaker Sydney Pollack (Three Days of
the Condor) as executive producer. I like that Kloves uses the opening
credits sequence to show Jack Baker (Jeff Bridges) making his way through the
streets of Seattle’s downtown. It gives us a sense of place and shows us the
character’s daily routine – all to the brooding jazz music of Dave Grusin,
immersing us in this world.
We meet Jack after a typical
one night stand (judging from his blasé behavior, it is assumed to be one of
many) as he heads off to work – playing piano with his brother Frank (Beau Bridges), one half of a lounge act, playing the cheap hotel and bar circuit.
The first exchange between the two immediately and expertly establishes their
respective characters. Jack is the laid-back brother and Frank constantly frets
and fusses. Frank cares about appearances and their act as typified early on in
an amusing exchange where he asks Jack to spray his hair to create “a magical
sheath that simulates a dazzling head of hair,” to which his brother deadpans,
“Frank, this is paint.” The way they interact with each other, especially
Frank, is amusing.
Frank and Jack have been
playing together for 15 years and their act has clearly gotten old. Frank’s
on-stage banter is riddled with tired clichés, so much so that it looks like
Jack, or perhaps the audience, could fall asleep at any moment and still play
his part. However, being the old pro that he is, Jack keeps it together, going
through the motions for Frank – the responsible one that deals with the
bookings while Jack shows up and plays. However, it becomes obvious that while
Frank can play well, Jack is the real talent. He lacks any kind of ambition and
is squandering his talent by playing lounges with his brother. Kloves provides
us further insight into Jack by showing his private life, which mainly involves
his friendship with a young girl (Ellie Raab) who lives above him and whom he
is teaching to play piano.
In recent times, their act
has reached a cul-de-sac of sorts as typified by a gig at a tiki lounge where
there are more people following a basketball game on television than listening
to their act. The bar’s owner actually pays them for the next night, not to
play: “I love you guys. You’re class. But people today, they don’t know class
if it walks up and grabs them by the balls.” So, Frank proposes that they add a
singer to their act in an effort to mix things up as he tells Jack, “Two pianos
isn’t enough anymore, Jack.” Cut to a funny montage of potential singers that
audition for the Bakers. What makes this sequence so amusing is not just the
wildly disparate styles of potential singers – Broadway, R&B, opera and
just plain awful – but Jack’s reaction to them, all conveyed via facial
expressions.
Of course, Kloves saves the
best for last – arriving 90 minutes late and looking like a hot, disheveled
mess is Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) who is equally unimpressed with the
Bakers (“This is show business?” she says sarcastically). She talks tough and
has the attitude to back it up – that gets their attention, but she keeps it
when singing “More Than You Know.” Her voice and the feeling she puts into the
performance not only intrigues the Bakers, but us as well. The reaction shots
of Frank and Jack give upon first hearing Susie sing are nicely understated and
illustrate how the sound of her voice affects them, wakes them up from the
musical funk they’ve been in for years. Who is this woman and where did she get
the chops to breathe new life into this old standard? Needless to say Susie is
hired and while her initial on-stage act is a little rough (she forgets to turn
on the microphone and accidentally curses once it is), as soon as she starts
singing the audience is enthralled (so is the hotel staff). The rest of the
film plays out the new dynamic between the Bakers and Susie, including the
growing attraction between her and Jack.
The casting of actual
brothers to play cinematic siblings was a brilliant move on Kloves’ part. The
shorthand between Jeff and Beau is believable because of their real-life
relationship. For example, the scene where Frank proposes hiring a singer to
enhance their act is so well-played because of the dynamic between them. Jack speaks
very little. All he has to do is give Frank a look and that says it all. The
facial expressions Jack gives tell us exactly what he is thinking. Sometimes an
economy of acting can be an embarrassment of riches. They complement each
other. Frank provides the regimented structure for Jack’s otherwise aimless
lifestyle. If Frank’s life plays by sheet music, then Jack’s is by ear. On the
creative side, Frank is a technically proficient musician, but he lacks the
soul that is readily evident in Jack’s playing. It is a classic split that you
see in the dynamic between brothers, but Kloves provides subtle shades to both
Frank and Jack, like how they’re both romantics, only one is more open about
it. For all his anal-retentiveness, Frank is a romantic at heart, getting all
nostalgic when he hears “Moonglow” as it reminds him of his wife. Jack is the
dark, brooding romantic, but keeps everything internalized while Frank is an
open book.
While Jeff Bridges and
Michelle Pfeiffer received the lion’s share of critical acclaim, Beau Bridges
is quite good playing the thankless role of the practical brother. However, he
is able to find nuances to the character with scenes that see him alternate
between the nagging worry-wart, the giddy grown-up kid, and the hopeless
romantic. He shows a real knack for comedy and drama, as evident in the scene
where Frank and Jack finally have it out after years of tension simmering under
the surface.
Jeff delivers a nicely
understated performance playing a brother that keeps his emotions in check to
the detriment of his relationships. The only people in his life that get past
his defenses are Frank and the girl who lives above him. If Frank is a technically
proficient musician, then Jack is that way when it comes to matters of the
heart and Jeff is not afraid to play Jack as emotionally unavailable, not above
cruelly crushing someone with words when he begins feeling something. Jack is
afraid to show vulnerability to anyone. He does not know how to open up to
people thanks to years of leading a transient lifestyle. Jack’s feelings are
expressed through the heartfelt jazz he plays at a nearby club. It is what he’d
rather be doing than playing hotels and bars 300 days out of the year. We are
all ships and you can either have an anchor that keeps you moored to a home
with a family or you stay adrift, which is Jack’s lifestyle. For example, his
apartment reflects a nomadic existence with its sparse furnishings and lack of
personal touch with the exception of a few affectations.
Michelle Pfeiffer was rightly
praised for her breakout performance in this film, even doing all her own
singing. She not only brings the requisite swagger and attitude as the street smart
Susie, but also conveys the vulnerability that lurks under the surface. She is
a headstrong character that seems to share Jack’s anti-romantic sentiments, but
both do have intense feelings – only she is more in touch with them and not
afraid to embrace them unlike Jack who is afraid to express his feelings
because he is scared of them.
Steve Kloves had always been interested in what
he called, “blue-collar entertainment – people who work in the arts in a kind
of working class way.” When he grew up in the 1960s, Kloves used to watch Ferrante and Teicher, a piano team that had a string of
easy-listening hits from 1950 to 1980, on The
Ed Sullivan Show and thinking, “what a weird act this is, and what if you
had a low-rent version of that working the Holiday Inns?" It stayed with him, as did a
guy he saw playing piano in a retro malt shop in Disneyland years later. Kloves
came up with an idea about brothers “with a dying piano act,” and he spent six
months writing notes about the characters and their relationship before creating
a narrative. He then wrote a first draft and followed that up by doing some
research.
In the spring of 1984,
he had his Racing with the Moon
script made into a film and the next year sold a draft for The Fabulous Baker Boys, to producers Paula Weinstein and Gareth
Wigan who made a deal with the president of Warner Bros. Mark Rosenberg to make
it. However, Weinstein and Wigan’s production company disbanded and she became
an executive consultant with MGM while Rosenberg left Warner Bros. to form
Mirage Productions with producer-director Sydney Pollack. As a result, the
project languished at the studio. Weinstein struck a deal with Mirage, but this
fell through as well. MGM was briefly interested and then withdrew. Kloves
remembered that he always thought of it as “a comedy on some level. But the
studios thought it was too dark, too depressing.” By 1988, the project was
finally green-lighted by Gladden Entertainment and 20th Century Fox.
Initially, it was thought
that a more experienced filmmaker would direct, with George Roy Hill (Slap Shot) considered at one point, but
over the three years of development, Kloves convinced the producers that he was
right for the job. Over the years, he resisted the pressure to make a formulaic
Hollywood movie: “This was a project where there was a feeling in town that it
could be made with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray which would be a disastrous
mistake.”
Originally, Kloves envisioned
Jeff and Beau Bridges playing the Baker brothers. The filmmaker flew to meet
with Jeff on his Montana ranch. After reading the script, Jeff gave it to his
brother Beau. Initially, the studio was hesitant to have them play brothers in
the film because there was the possibility of clashing egos or the casting
would be seen as a gimmick. Beau wasn’t sure he wanted to do the film because
he wanted to get the role on his own merits and not because of his brother. After reading the script, he aggressively
pursued the role and met with Kloves over breakfast. Once the two men realized
they were on the same page, Beau got the part.
Jeff and Beau had studied
piano when they were young and ended up spending several months during
pre-production learning how to play the songs in the film and how they would
look playing them, continuing to practice during the entire shoot. Jazz pianist
Dave Grusin dubbed Jeff’s piano playing while John F. Hammond dubbed for Beau.
Kloves picked all the songs in the film, from the ones in the audition to the
ones that the Bakers play. According to the filmmaker, they were chosen to
reflect the characters and the places they play them in.
Initially, Kloves had a hard time getting a hold
of Michelle Pfeiffer. When he finally was able to she read the script and liked
it but was too busy. He met with her several times over the course of a week
and eventually wore her down. Her initial apprehension came from not singing professionally since Grease 2 (1982). She spent four months strengthening her vocal
chords in extensive daily practice sessions. Pfeiffer had to work on the
phrasing for the various songs because she was used to popular music, which was
different. In addition, she also researched a lot of lounge singers in the Los
Angeles area.
Early on, Kloves sat down
with the film’s cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and told him that the colors
should be like an Edward Hopper painting: “The burnished red of the booths, a
kind of dark crimson with amber light and a slightly threadbare quality, like
the surroundings are all going to seed a bit.”
Principal photography began
on December 5, 1988 in L.A. at the Ambassador Hotel, the home of the famous
Coconut Grove nightclub. Even though the film’s story was set in Seattle, the
producers chose to shoot most of it in L.A. so that they wouldn’t be at the
mercy of the Pacific Northwest’s notoriously temperamental weather. The small
crew ranged from 50-75 people with a quick shooting schedule that consisted of
spending only one day shooting at each location. For the famous scene where her
character sings on top of a piano, Pfeiffer rehearsed it wearing knee and elbow
pads, but when it came to filming she went unprotected, claiming that it was
“rough on my knees,” and that “the most difficult thing was climbing down at
the end.” For the scene, she had only one choreography lesson that lasted three
hours with choreographer Peggy Holmes.
Not only is Kloves an amazing
screenwriter, but also an exceptional director, integrating all of the elements
masterfully. He frames shots expertly with beautifully lit sets courtesy of
Michael Ballhaus. Conversations take place on rain-slicked streets that reflect
the neon signs of nearby stores or the dimly-lit atmosphere of lounges. It is
interesting to note that The Fabulous
Baker Boys takes place just as Seattle’s grunge music scene was taking its
initial steps towards the mainstream and shows us a very different side of the
city’s music scene – a bygone era that has all but disappeared. Kloves’ film
takes an excellent look at the grind of working musicians that survive from gig
to gig. The Bakers start off barely eking out an existence and with Susie’s
addition enjoy a modicum of success that is fleeting.
The Fabulous Baker Boys received mostly positive reviews from
critics. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and
wrote, “This is one of the movies they will use as a document, years from now,
when they begin to trace the steps by which Pfeiffer became a great star.” In
her review for The New York Times,
Janet Maslin wrote, “Versatile as he is, Jeff Bridges hasn’t played a character
like Jack before. For an actor who usually conveys such can-do resilience, the
defeated slouch and the bored, jaded cynicism required for this role are
notably new.” The Washington Post’s
Desson Howe called the film “a thoroughly enjoyable entertainment that should
play just about everybody’s strings right. Kloves proves to be quite a plucker.”
Pauline Kael
wrote, “The choice of songs, their placement, and the sound mix itself are
extraordinary – so subtle they make fun of any fears of kitschy emotions. And
there’s a thrill in watching the three actors, because they seem perfect at
what they’re doing – newly minted icons.” In his review, Jonathan Rosenbaum
wrote, “This pared-away comedy-drama, which concentrates exclusively on the
three characters, has plenty of old-fashioned virtues: deft acting, a nice
sense of scale that makes the drama agreeably life-size, a good use of Seattle
locations, fluid camera work (by Michael Ballhaus), a kind of burnished
romanticism about the music, and a genuine feeling for the characters and their
various means of coping.” Finally, the Los
Angeles Times’ Sheila Benson wrote, “For an ending to a picture this
delicious, it’s like a crepe compared to triple-decker strawberry shortcake.
You may just have to learn to love crepes.”
While the film didn’t set the
world on fire, initially, it has gathered plenty of steam over the years thanks
to home video. Kloves said, “enough people have seen it over the years that I
feel justified … Baker Boys is
probably the truest expression of my sensibility.”
What creates a classic film? The Fabulous Baker Boys is one of the
films that I go to for the answer. Somewhere within the film are the answers to
this question. Kloves makes it look so easy as he flawlessly integrates all the
elements, putting us in a moment of time to watch the defining moments in the
lives of these characters. It’s rare that one gets to see a satisfying arc for
characters over the course of a film. Watching this film, one feels like
they’ve been on a journey with these characters – that they’re at a different
place from where they were at the beginning of the story. And yet Kloves leaves
the ending tantalizingly open-ended so that we’re left wondering about these
characters and what kind of adventures they might have in the future.
SOURCES
Crowther, Bruce. Michelle Pfeiffer: A Biography. Robert
Hale Limited. 1994.
Eborall, Bob. “Building
Bridges with The Fabulous Baker Boys.”
Video Today. November 1990.
The Fabulous Baker Boys Press Kit. 20th Century Fox. 1989.
Griffin, Nancy. “Shot by Shot
– The Fabulous Baker Boys.” Premiere.
November 1989.
Hemphill, Jim. “’I’m Not
Qualified for Anything Else.’: Writer/Director Steve Kloves on The Fabulous Baker Boys and Flesh and Bone.” Filmmaker. September
11, 2015.
Matthews, Tom. “Brothers in
Tuxedos.” Box Office. November 1989.
Sragow, Michael. “A Wizard of
Hollywood.” Salon.com. February 24, 2000.