The Fabulous Baker Boys

Name: The Fabulous Baker Boys
Genre: Drama, Romance, Music
Released: October 13, 1989
Duration: 114 min
Rating: 85
Cast: Albert Hall, Beau Bridges, Dakin Matthews, Ellie Raab, Gregory Itzin

1989

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	Your Score
7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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The Fabulous Baker Boys

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: October 13, 1989 | R

Starring: Albert Hall, Beau Bridges, Dakin Matthews, Ellie Raab, Gregory Itzin, Jeff Bridges, Ken Lerner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Terri Treas, Xander Berkeley

Summary: The lives of two struggling musicians (the Bridges brothers), who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer (Michelle Pfeiffer)

Director: Steve Kloves

Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Music

Rating: R

Runtime: 114 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Russell Stamets

The Fabulous Baker Boys has winning performances, but the film's real success is how truthfully it portrays these people and their music. [13 Oct 1989, p.6]

100

Rita Kempley

The Fabulous Baker Boys is like a beloved movie from the glory days of Hollywood. It transports you. It's an American rhapsody. Read full review

Pauline Kael

A movie in which 80s glamour is being defined...The three stars seem perfect at what they're doing.

Janet Maslin

It's a film specializing in smoky, down-at-the-heels glamour, and in the kind of smart, slangy dialogue that sounds right without necessarily having much to say. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

The Fabulous Baker Boys ultimately soars on the strength of its three perfectly cast stars, who collectively wed studies of glamour (Jeff Bridges and Pfeiffer) with ruminations on the pain of life as an everyman among stars (Beau Bridges). Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

The fun part is seeing it all play out, thanks to a standout cast and first-time director Steve Kloves’ skill in handling them. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

All over this movie there are cliches that are just plain embarrassing, and unsettling moments in which it's obvious Kloves is writing about stuff he doesn't know a thing about. [13 Oct 1989, p.E1]

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 27, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a somewhat saucy film, not in an explicit sense but there are some scenes featuring musical performances from the main characters which are a bit sensual perhaps. Michelle Pfeiffer gives a particularly memorable performance - I'd say if your a fan of hers then you'll enjoy this but then considering the film dates from 1989, I'd be surprised if you hadn't already seen it before.

Its true that the plot pace is a bit slow but I found it an easy watch regardless. The relationship between the two brothers (said baker boys) and Pfeiffer's character, Susie, is fairly interesting. Jeff Bridges plays brother Jack, the surprisingly laidback and even rather cold, noncomittal and apathetic type.

I think a key word or theme in this film is disillusionment. Oh and from a musical perspective, to give you an idea, there's a lot (and by a lot I mean a LOT) of 'bar music' mainly featuring saxophone featured - saxophone and piano music. Some saxophone music can be heard in the background during scenes not featuring live performances as well, giving it the feel of an old detective type film almost. It is a little cheesy in that regard I suppose.

Its also rather seedy in tone but I thought it was an alright watch. there were some amusing scenes (although it isn't an outright comedy) and the performances made it a pretty decent watch, even though the plot is a bit weak. Not a bad watch, not a brilliant one but not a bad one either.… Expand

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