Born to be Blue

10 votes and 2 Reviews

Release Date: March 11, 2016 (limited)

On DVD/VOD: July 26, 2016

1h 37m | Drama, Musical

Trumpeter and jazz singer Chet Baker (Ethan Hawke) became an icon in the 1950s. As the film begins, it's the late 1960s and Chet is playing himself in a film about his own life.

He strikes up a passionate romance on and off the set with Jane (Carmen Ejogo), an actress playing one of his lovers, but when he's brutally beaten in a parking lot after a gig, his future suddenly isn't so bright.

His mouth is so badly damaged that his musical career is derailed and as a consequence, the film is shelved. However, Jane stands by him and he becomes determined to regain his place among his peers — including his friend and collaborator Dizzy Gillespie (Kevin Hanchard), his rival Miles Davis (Kedar Brown) and his reticent producer (Callum Keith Rennie).

  Canadian Connection: Filmed in Sudbury and Espanola, Ontario. Director/screenwriter Robert Budreau and most of the supporting cast members are Canadian, including Stephen McHattie, Janet-Laine Green and Katie Boland.