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avg. user rating (1-10): 6
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114 minutes
USA (1989)
15
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THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS FILM REVIEW |
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Romantic drama about a pair of professional musicians whose life takes a new direction when they hire a female singer
Sexy, sassy and seriously entertaining, The Fabulous Baker Boys is one of those unexpected hits that emerge from nowhere to take the box office by storm. As written and directed by Steve Kloves - who'd later pen the fantastic Wonder Boys - it's a film in which the chemistry between the lead actors breathes lives into what is, ultimately, a far from original setup.
Real-life brothers Jeff and Beau Bridges play the Baker Boys, two lounge lizard musicians who spend their nights entertaining cocktail bar patrons while silently wondering whatever happened to their ambitions of greatness. After deciding to jazz up their act with a female singer, they hire Michelle Pfeiffer's hard-nosed vocalist. Yet her presence merely serves to complicate the familial dynamic as her sexy allure and no-nonsense attitude works its magic on both of them in very different ways.
The script from debut filmmaker Kloves builds upon sharply observed incidental details - like the scene in which Frank Baker (Beau Bridges) reveals that he's been spraying on fake "hair" out of an aerosol can to cover his bald spot - making for a polished, adult film. Yet the real showstopper is Pfeiffer, who effortlessly plays both men off against each other while vamping it up in a series of hot-under-the-collar scenes, the most memorable of which sees her draped across a grand piano giving a siren-like rendition of "Makin' Whoopee". Fabulous.
Verdict
Pfeiffer may steal the show, but The Fabulous Baker Boys impresses with three lead performances, each one subtly complementing the other like a musical combo. A Hollywood blockbuster with brains, heart and lots of sassiness.
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