Vida Boêmia

My brother turned me on to this movie and I've about worn out my VHS copy of it. A lot of jazz movies suffer from "short attention span camera syndrome"... i.e., once the music starts, after a bit, the camera wanders away and busies itself with some irrelevant bit of drama or dialog. "Lush Life" suffers from this problem only slightly, I'm happy to say. I was particularly impressed with how believable the actors look when they're playing their instruments. I do have one criticism of this movie, however, and it's a doze as far as I'm concerned: why, why, why, didn't they release a soundtrack album? I would have bought it in a heartbeat and I'll bet most of the other people who saw this movie would have, too. In an age when the soundtrack album is all but ubiquitous, to have a movie that does not have one -- when the movie is ABOUT MUSIC -- is beyond understanding.

Lush Life is a fairly standard buddy movie (with Forest Whitaker and Jeff Goldblum), but this time the buddies are interesting people and have talent. There's also a slight "cherchez la femme" subplot, but it adds to the story instead of distracting from it. Kathy Baker does a wonderful job of proving her character's importance to the story without taking (too much) away from the interactions between Goldblum and Whitaker, two jazz musicians each facing their share of turning points in each of their lives.

The music is what kept me interested. Each of the principals has a big-name jazz stand-in, and the voice and virtuoso playing of the stand-ins practically steal the movie. I love classic jazz; if you do, too, see -- and, more important, listen to -- Lush Life.

P.S. If anyone knows whether a soundtrack album exists, or even a few CDs where I can find the tunes, please let me know.

"Lush Life" is a film that shows the world of jazz musicians with accuracy, something other films have tried, but failed to do. Thanks to director Michael Elias we are presented a realistic film with some of the best music heard in this type of movies. Mr. Elias must know this milieu well, judging what one sees in the picture.

The three principals, Jeff Goldblum, Kathy Baker and Forest Whitaker do good work together. Best of all, the characters they are playing appear to be real. We watch as these musicians struggle to make a living going from gig to gig in order to make ends meet. Their world is all about music and the pleasure they get from playing together. The surprise was Kathy Baker singing a jazz standard with great style and voice.

The story of Buddy's illness is not exploited to make the viewer feel sorry for the man. In fact, Buddy doesn't want anyone's pity as he faces a horrible end.

The supporting cast is excellent in conveying the atmosphere of the world of jazz in New York.

I'd say the strongest point is the music by Lennie Niehaus. He also did the music for all of Clint Eastwood's movies. The acting is really terrific, and the story is an accurate portrayal of the Bohemian life style of New York jazz musicians.

One error in some of the reviews: Kathy Baker did NOT sing the songs, Sue Raney did. This was apparently a lip-sync by Raney, who is a well-known and respected vocalist here in southern California.

The producer was generous in letting real musicians have some of the acting roles. For example, Jack Sheldon had a cameo role as one of the musicians, and the obnoxious booking agent was played by Buddy Arnold, a long-time jazz reed player on the west coast.

Here is another movie that will never turn a profit. The reason is quite apparent. There are no sex scenes, no nude scenes, no foul language to speak of, no explosions or idiotic car chases. Also, there really isn't much of a story line. But on the other hand,,,,,,,for those of us who have lived through that era of small sleazy night clubs (and big ones too), supper clubs, piano bars, and many other neighborhood "show" bars, and thrived on the music and excitement of small jazz groups, this modest little movie was an epiphany. It was a throw back to the times when, if you had the right contacts, you were invited to stay in an "after hours" joint and listen to some great talent "jam' until dawn for no other reason than the thrill of the music that those musicians loved to play.

We know the plot of the movie because we lived it, if only vicariously. I call it a "bomb" because that is what it takes to keep me awake throughout a movie, without looking at my watch. It was in fact, a serendipity. I give it an unqualified "10." Thank goodness some movie producers send us a crumb, now and then, that we can much on,,,without getting indigestion.