Vida Boêmia

This is a real modern jazz movie; there are precious few of those, notwithstanding the efforts of those who have gone before or since. The "buddy" aspect, ala "Brian's Song" is well done, but for me, the energy is in the music, which is given as much rein as a drama from Hollywood permits.This music is mainstream hard bop, superbly performed by Chuck Findlay (trumpet) among others.I believed in the musicians' love of the music for its own sake.

I think it very strange that in the entire history of "modern" jazz, which for most musicologists occupies the period 1942-present, only "Round Midnight" and "Bird" and (maybe)"Giant Steps" address the music in a meaningful way on a par with this film, documentaries and concert films excluded.

One sees clearly that "Lush Life" is a labor born of love, destined to be a largely overlooked made for TV film.

I really enjoyed this movie. You could call this a "slice-of-life" movie, the kind of movie that I usually hate, so why did this one work?

Reason one: Great stars. The three leads, Jeff Goldblum, Forest Whitaker, and Kathy Baker are three of my favorites. I've seen Jeff and Forest mis-cast in some bad movies, so it does my heart good to see them in roles where they seem to slip into their characters so easily. Forest's earlier experience in Clint Eastwood's Bird (a movie I did not enjoy) may have been useful here. The shots of Goldblum playing the sax made it look like he was really playing it. Kathy Baker can do it all. Her natural sweetness comes through in every performance. The script was probably written with younger actors in mind, and would have worked better, but Goldblum here at 41 and Baker at 43, manage to convince us they are a thirty-something Bohemian couple still working out their life plan.

Reason two: Great supporting cast. Don Cheadle and Lois Chiles head a supporting cast where all the performances are spot-on.

Reason three: Great music.

Reason four: good dialog.

This is a low-key, warm and fuzzy movie you don't have to think too hard about.

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.

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 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.