The Fabulous Baker Boys
Hello loyal readers. Consider this part one of a few Seattle-related posts.
Frank and Jack Baker are piano playing brothers who have their own semi-successful lounge act playing in slightly seedy joints in Seattle and environs. Older brother Frank (Beau Bridges) is married with a family, while younger brother Jack (Jeff Bridges) is single and lives in a bohemian apartment in Seattle's Pioneer Square area. Frank is the leader of the duo, booking all their shows and bantering with the audience with an arsenal of corny jokes. (Frank, however, is a bit of a pushover when it comes to making sure they get paid fairly, much to Jack's annoyance). Jack is the musical prodigy, and seems increasingly bored by their hacky act.
When the Baker Boys' prospects reach a nadir, Frank decides that they need something new: a woman singer. This leads to perhaps the funniest scene in the movie in which Frank and Jack audition a litany of hopeless, hapless singers. Jennifer Tilly, in particular, is wonderful as Blanche Moran, a sweet and well-meaning but thoroughly ditzy auditioner with definitely no future as a singer.
Just when Frank and Jack are about to pack it in after a day of unsuccessful auditions, in comes Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), a few minutes late but determined to audition. Frank relents and Susie sings. She is easily the best singer of the day and wins the brothers over.
I have long been a Michelle Pfeiffer agnostic. I thought she was perfectly fine in the movies I'd seen her in, but never blown away. I never understood why so many others were so enamored by her. After seeing her in The Fabulous Baker Boys, I finally get it. She is captivating in this film.
I recently heard someone say that Susie has to be someone who sings well enough to be successful in this Seattle lounge act, but not too good. Michelle Pfeiffer perfectly captures this. Susie is someone who has lived a life and seen some things, but none of this is spelled out in excruciatingly precise detail as might be the case in a lesser film. I always appreciate movies that allow the viewer to reach their own conclusions or create their own backstories for characters.
Inevitably, Jack and Susie hook up, but when one casts two beautiful people like Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer at the peak of their hotness, it would be a disservice not to have them become romantically involved, even if its messy and brief. That's another thing the movie gets right: Jack and Susie are flawed people who are both attracted by and put off by each other, so their relationship is complicated.
At the heart of the movie, though, is the relationship of the brothers. It was an astute decision to have two real life brothers play Frank and Jack Baker. We have to believe that these two guys know each other better than anyone else in the world and despite whatever trials and tribulations they endure, they will always be there for each other. Without giving anything away (for a 37-year-old film), the brothers' final scene in Frank's suburban garage is both humorous and touching.
If you haven't seen The Fabulous Baker Boys--or haven't seen it in a while--go track it down. (Sadly, I have heard it is difficult to find on physical media these days, but I assume it is streaming somewhere). You might be able to do what I did and check out the DVD from your local public library.
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