The Fabulous Baker Boys

Jeff and Beau Bridges - brothers in real life - are here united to play brothers on the screen. It's not the first time real-life brothers have played fictitious brothers in a movie (in fact, in The Long Riders several famous siblings paired up to similar effect). However, The Fabulous Baker Boys really benefits from the pairing. The sibling rivalry that runs through this film feels very credible and very convincing, possibly because Jeff and Beau aren't really acting but are simply using their real-life love/hate brotherly attitudes to fuel their performances in front of the cameras.

It's a fairly thin story, but well told. Jack Baker (Jeff B.) and Frank Baker (Beau B.) have spent years working together as stage pianists in various bars, hotels and night-clubs around Seattle. Their long-running act begins to run out of steam and they find themselves playing to empty rooms.... even their more established employers begin to express doubts about their ability to pull in the big crowds. They decide to hire a female vocalist to spice up the appeal of their show and, after over thirty awful applicants, they finally unearth a winner in the shape of Suzy Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer). Initially, Suzy provides them with a turn in their fortunes, but the future of the trio becomes cloudy when she and Jack develop sexual yearnings for each other. The problems don't stop there, with Frank and Jack slowly becoming more and more distant with each other as their views on how best to market their musical talents are revealed to be very different.

The Fabulous Baker Boys is extremely well-acted throughout, with Pfeiffer in particular giving an outstanding performance (she even sang most of her own songs). The main themes of sibling rivalry and unfulfilled talent are generally engrossing, and help to paper over the thinness of the story. Jeff acts rather moodily for much of the time and is very believable as a man working in the lower ranks of his trade when he could've reached the top. Beau is also in fine form as a performer who does what he does simply because it puts money in the family kitty. It's a hard film to describe, because it's not really about very much, but if you can adjust to the relaxed pace and just enjoy the leisurely development of the three main characters then you will come away from the film feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Beau and Jeff Bridges, the sons of Lloyd Bridges really developed their careers apart from each other. Neither piggybacked on the other's success and while their father's name might have opened a door or two, Beau and Jeff never piggybacked on him either.

When they did a joint project each had a well respected career. The Fabulous Baker Boys is about a pair of musician brothers who have a double piano act, something like Ohman&Arden from the Thirties or Jose and Ampara Iturbi, brother and sister in a more classical vein. But they're not anything as successful as the examples I mentioned. They eke out an existence in the clubs in Seattle trying to scratch a living at what they love.

Beau takes a lot of guff to keep them employed as he's married with children and Jeff puts up with nothing. To liven up the act they decide a sexy girl singer is what they need and after some dismal candidates they find Michelle Pheiffer. But Michelle dishes out her own brand of guff and she causes The Fabulous Baker Boys to reexamine themselves and their lives.

Pheiffer got a Best Actress nomination one of four categories of Oscar nominations the film received. She dominates the film when she's on and not through sheer beauty. It was a well deserved performance, I love the scenes when she cuts Jeff Bridges down to size. She isn't easy on Beau either.

Lots of the kind of music I like, vocal and instrumental, is found in The Fabulous Baker Boys. That's a guarantee right there I would enjoy the film.

It's only too bad that Beau and Jeff could not work their father into this one.

This a good movie and one which has gone down as just that.

The story is not particularly original and there were times which I could guess what would happen next, but the acting job more than made up for that in my book. I could never get Jeff's performance in the Vanishing out of my head until this movie. He did a great job in this one. Beau was also very good.

The one person who I must make a special note of is, or course, Ms. Pfeiffer. She simply blew me away. The piano scene is near legendary now. She is a VERY talented actress and I am glad she is getting everything she deserves now. She is sexy and talented, two traits which do not often go together. I love her and watch most movies she is in because she is talented and immense fun to watch onscreen.

I think I am biased, though, but, hey, everyone needs some actress/actor that they love to watch.

Written and directed by Steve Kloves, `The Fabulous Baker Boys' is a tale of music and brotherly love set in Seattle. The Baker boys are Jack and Frank (real life brothers Jeff and Beau Bridges), who eke out a living playing piano together at various venues throughout the Emerald City, a basic lounge act they've been doing for fifteen years. Frank is the responsible one, because he has to be; he has a wife, kids and a home in the suburbs. He manages their business, secures the bookings and is content to stick with a formula that works. For him, it's not about the music, it's about keeping food on the table for those who depend on him. Jack, on the other hand, is unattached and could care less about the business end of the partnership. As long as it affords him a modicum of security as well as dignity, he is more than willing to just go along for the ride.

For Jack, though, underneath it all, it is about the music; it's about jazz. On off nights he will steal away alone to some small club to play, and deep down inside he knows that this is not only what he really wants, but needs. And he knows he could be great, if only he'd let himself go. The trouble is, he's been with Frank his whole life, and as long as the act is working he just can't make the break. Unless something happens, his dreams are destined to remain suppressed and unrealized. It is only when one of their regular clubs balks at rescheduling them that the brothers begin to realize that perhaps their act is getting a bit stale. So they decide to try adding a singer to the act. After a memorable scene in which a number of young hopefuls are auditioned, Suzie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) enters their life. She joins the act on a trial basis, and after an amusing and somewhat tentative beginning, infuses it with new life, though Frank continues to adamantly resist too much of a departure from their original show. (`Does anyone really want to hear ‘Feelings' again?' she asks him at one point). Ultimately, however, Suzie becomes the impetus for change that Jack has needed all along, and the stage is set for the decisive moment, which comes when the dignity of the brothers is compromised due to an incident on Frank's part of uncharacteristic carelessness. When Jack tells Frank, `We've never been clowns before–' you know exactly how deep it has cut. Kloves has fashioned an entertaining study of relationships, change, and the effects of complacent loyalty and self-denial; and the importance of following your own heart. When Jack sits down alone at the piano in that smoke-filled club, we know that this is where he is meant to be. Filmed on location in and around Seattle, with a terrific score by Dave Grusin,a supporting cast that includes Jennifer Tilly (Monica) and Ellie Raab (Nina), and a classic scene in which Suzie Diamond croons `Makin' Whoopee' atop a piano, `The Fabulous Baker Boys' is an absolute gem you do not want to miss. I rate this one 10/10.

The Baker brothers, Frank and Jack, played by real-life siblings Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges, have presumably never performed with the Boston Symphony nor rocked on the stage at Woodstock. In the music profession, they are closer to the equivalent of bottom feeders, plying their trade as two-piano lounge musicians. Moreover, gigs in Seattle, where they are based, are getting harder and harder to extract from nightclub owners. Lack of pizazz is beginning to show. The brothers thus reach a business decision to audition for a female singer to enliven their act, leading to Michelle Pfeiffer, whose character is named Susie Diamond and looks every bit the name.

As even those who have not seen the movie may be aware, the highlight is Pfeiffer's show-stopping performance of "Makin' Whoopee" in a sleek red dress atop Jeff Bridges' piano. It occurs, as the trio ascends to better venues, in the ballroom of a getaway resort hotel on New Year's Eve. Pfeiffer won a Golden Globe and other awards for best actress, but Jessica Tandy won the corresponding Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy.

My vote still goes to Pfeiffer, and to Susie. The intriguing, charisma-challenged character, however, is the punctilious Frank, a devoted family man and manager of the act. Frank's pitches to his audiences, making segues from one song to another, are schmaltzy to the point of embarrassment, and yet he applies a time-honored work ethic to his calling, and construes the approach as professionalism. To his brother Jack, in contrast, it's just a job, the relative status of which may be what is life-grating and produces his usual sullenness. Jack would rather be doing a sneak-away stint at a jazz club than pursuing the everyday career into which he is slotted.

So... Pfeiffer is great. Beau Bridges, in her shadow, is more overlooked than he should be. As is the movie. Jeff Bridges rounds out the cast and has his moments. It's a good rental option for a New Year's Eve.