THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS
A film review by Kevin Romano
Copyright 1989 Kevin Romano
This film has a lot going for it and a lot not going for it. It has a great beginning and ending, pieced together with a yawn-filled middle section. It was written and directed by the same man, whose name I don't remember. Anyway, let me explain myself.
Traditional screenplay format allows for a beginning, a middle and an ending. The middle section is the longest because it has to carry the weight of the dramatic development of the theme, which has been proposed in the beginning and will be resolved in the ending. The main trouble with the writing of the screenplay for THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS is that there is almost no development in the middle section. It's almost as if the film could have gone from beginning to ending for all the development that takes place in the middle. It's not that there isn't any, but that it is so meager and rather unconvincing. At one point I was wishing the film would hurry up and get over. Don't take this to mean you should avoid this film, because that would be a mistake. The film has lots of other things going for it.
Although Hollywood nepotism has brought us lots of people we'd just as soon forget about. I don't count Lloyd Bridges' sons, Jeff and Beau, amongst them. Jeff Bridges has become a terrific actor. Unfortunately, in this film the director does a miserable job of bringing out his character's weaknesses - weaknesses on which the plot rests. Beau Bridges, on the other hand, does a fabulous job in his part. In fact, when he is missing from the middle section of the film it begins to drag. He is completely convincing and I recommend anyone who takes an interest in acting to watch him in this film. His performance and the direction of his character are first class.
Michelle Pfeiffer, too, does a top-notch job of acting - and, rather surprisingly, she can also sing. It's wonderful to watch actors like Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer develop their acting skills over time. It makes you want to go see what new thing they will bring to the screen next time. Only a few other actors have this refreshing approach. I refer to people like Meryl Streep, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman. Michelle, as we know, is a physically beautiful person. Of course, sexual attraction is subjective. Michelle does not come across in this film as the type of person you would want to have an off-hand fling with, even though she plays the part of an ex-call-girl. For me in this film she is definitely the bring home to mother type. Perhaps I should personally analyse why I feel that way. It's puzzling to me why I would want to bring Michelle's character home to mother while Michelle's performance is so, shall we say, 'worldly'. At any rate this brings up one very important reason why we the audience go to movies in the first place. That is, of course, to learn about ourselves.
There's a lot of very nice minor touches in this film; some decent music, a very nice crane shot near the beginning, a convincing bit actress in a bedroom scene, also in the beginning, some fuuny comedy, as well as a wonderful "showdown" scene between the Baker boys. There are also some nasty plot holes to watch out for.
I feel I have to add one more objection and that is, overall, the plot, its development, and resolution turn out to cost the characters next to nothing. The film has a happy, upbeat ending. I like that. What I don't like is when the decisions the characters make in a film don't cost them anything. As we know there are no free lunches in life. We, as Americans, don't expect any. Decisions we make often cause the course of our entire lives to change. There is pain involved - a failing business, an unhappy choice of profession, a divorce, forced separation from loved ones - on and on. THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS is a little too neat, too pat, too removed from the consequences of our choices for my taste.
So what I suggest is that you go see this movie, even though it is uneven. It has things to not recommend it, but lots that do. It's one of those films that you can learn from. I would especially have liked to have strangled the director's ideas for the (un)development of Jeff Bridges' character. See if you agree; you'll have some very nice moments along the way.
-- Kevin Romano
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews