Gre da Vid A decent story about Chet Baker, jazz trumpeter of the 1950s. It is a shame, though, that the story is about the burden of drug addiction more so than the musical talent that Baker possessed.

cinemajesty Actor Ethan Hawke under the direction of director Robert Budreau gives a lasting performance in a emotional-mixed Biopic on Jazz Musician Chet Baker. The film itself shifts between black and white imagery and color reality bites to shine some light on drug-induced life of struggling artist. With a simplified screenplay on a rise-fall-rise story, "Born To Be Blue" becomes Ethan Hawke's show from the first minute. He researched the subject matter to a self-preserving state in every scene, interacting with female lead Carmen Ejogo to such an extent of full chemistry, especially in a marriage proposing scene inside a camping van, when the character of Chet Baker dismantles his trumpet to present a connecting ring piece as proposal band to the character of Jane. She accepts his proposal by hanging the trumpet's connection piece on a chain around her neck. The love story seems to good to be true, which ultimately leads to their downfall, when Jane realizes that Chet's drug abuse brings out the best of play. She becomes third rate in his life after Jazz and the drugs. The couple goes their separate ways. "Born To Be Blue" sounds like melodrama. Nevertheless director Robert Budreau manages to make the audience feel that Chet Baker's life has been a victory. Even though the film breathes solely on Ethan Hawke's performance, who indulges every possible Biopic on struggling musician, which came before it "Bird" (1988), "Ray" (2004) even the release-wise parallel competing "Miles Ahead" (2015). The actor departs from the rest of jazz musician interpretation by giving a two times vocal performance between recording trumpet session, which lifts the empathetic level of the picture within seconds by striking the audience's ear. All to the fortunate outcome of a director's vision, which gets away with mediocre camera motion works and less to no wide shots on a story of an isolated man.

zif ofoz Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker is giving us a characterization of Chet Baker not as the person but surely as what it felt like to be Chet Baker. It is Chet Baker trying to understand himself and how his music was a projection of himself to which he was always striving to make more perfect. No human can do this therefore the heroin was an escape from himself.Carmen Ejogo positively shines as the two women in his life. As his girlfriend Elaine she tries to bring some sense of balance and grounding into his mixed-up life and realizes late into their loveship she will always be second to his music and drugs.This story is fascinating and painful. And this is where the viewer may experience compassion burnout because Baker is forever making the same mistakes. He cannot see this but you the viewer will see it and by movies end you just do not care anymore. Everything about this movie is right but by the end you are just at the point of being bored!Still this is a film worth every minute of viewing time.

Tony Heck "Real talent always flourishes, but then there's the type that promises more than they can fulfill." Chet Baker (Hawke) is one of the best trumpet players in the world. He has played with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and can hold his own. After getting out of jail he attempts a comeback. Movies and music come back easy to him, until his drug habit takes over and everything he knows and has is threatened. This movie has two things going against it right off the bat. First, it comes out shortly after the Miles Davis movie with Don Cheadle. Second, this person is not nearly as well known as Miles Davis was. That said, I still like jazz and bio-pics so I was hoping this would be good. It is hard not to compare the two movies since I just saw the other one last week. I thought Miles Ahead was a little better, mainly because it seemed to move a little faster and there was more than just this happened to him, and then this happened. Neither of the movies however were amazing or classics along the lines of Ray or Walk the Line. What this movie had was terrific acting. I have never been a real big Ethan Hawke fan, but I really think he could get a nomination for this one. He is the reason to watch. Overall, a decent movie about a person I had never heard of but became interested as it went along. Hawke is the real reason to watch though. I give this a B-.