I favolosi Baker

What was really surprising about "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (a pleasant one) is that Michelle Pfeiffer can actually sing. Everyone knows this movie for her slinky performance on Jeff Bridges' piano, but I'd always just assumed she was dubbed over. She's got a nice voice. And going beyond just that scene, Pfeiffer has never been such a head-turner as she is here. My god, she is sexy in this movie.

It's not an easy movie to sit through, seeing as it details the ark side of show biz. Tensions show themselves from minute one, and just bubble throughout until they come to a head. Twice. There are two altercations in the story that are just painful (between Jeff and Michelle, and then Jeff and Beau). Speaking of the brothers Bridges, if that counts as stunt casting, then it's necessary. I don't think you could tell this story with unrelated actors. The real-life siblings bring a realism to this that heightens the emotion.

Rough movie, but a beautiful family story. Bittersweet to the end.

8/10

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.

Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges are "The Fabulous Baker Boys" in this 1989 film also starring Michelle Pfeiffer. The Baker Boys have been playing dual pianos on the lounge circuit for years, with Frank (Beau) acting as the booking manager and accountant. When the bookings dry up, the brothers decide to hire a singer. She's Susie Diamond, a gorgeous blond with a sultry voice and sexy appearance that gives the Baker Boys the pizazz that they need to pick up better gigs and more of them. Of course, one can't wait for the handsome, quietly intense Jack (Jeff) and Susie to give into their sexual chemistry, despite Frank's warnings that Jack's hit and run technique will not work with a teammate. When Frank is called away on a family emergency, more than sex happens. Ultimately Susie's bluntness and ability to see a situation for what it is makes Jack realize he hates the act, hates the way his brother handles it, and hates himself for not pursuing work as a jazz musician.

Someone wrote that the plot is thin - not really. The sibling dynamics are real, pent up, and the product of years of lip-biting, Jack becoming more and more introverted and Frank more desperate to work so he can support his family. It takes an outsider to bring tempers to a boil.

The film is very well done, with great music throughout, including some very hot singing by Pfeiffer. The highlight of the movie is Pfeiffer rolling around on the piano as she sings to Jack. She's really at the height of her beauty and can compare favorably to any Hollywood goddess of the past. Her performance as a street-wise singer who's had it tough is excellent, right down to the chewing gum and the crystal jewelry. Beau Bridges is perfectly cast. He plays a working musician for whom music is a job - and yet he's proud of the act, insistent on having "Feelings" in every show they do, and likes songs like "Bali Hai." Then we come to Jeff Bridges, certainly one of the sexiest men to ever come down the pike - tall and handsome, he is the essence of true jazz musician here - passionate on the piano, cool, loving the night life and the attendant bad habits of drinking and smoking. He's all tied up in his inability to break free of his brother, and it's expressed in every non-expression, every puff of his cigarette. He's fantastic.

Another reviewer on this site stated that non-musicians probably can't understand Jack's frustration about the music. It's true, I'm a trained musician and related to his crisis immediately. But I think many people are in jobs they don't like, many people have a book they never finished because the kids came along - I think this is a very appealing story.

I remember this film getting a big build-up when it was released, but many people on IMDb feel it's underrated. I didn't realize it was, but if it is, it shouldn't be. What a movie - a strange kind of a love story for sure, between a man and his music, but a love story nevertheless.

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.