“We weren’t interested in the specific detail of what exactly happened or what didn’t happen,” director Robert Budreau said to the Globe and Mail of Born to Be Blue, his biopic of famed and troubled jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. That’s not the kind of disclaimer you generally want to hear about a film based on a real person, but it’s necessary to keep in mind before viewing this well-intentioned, well-made effort.
You won’t get the exact truth of Baker’s life and career here—one that reached impressive heights and devastating lows. Nor will you get the complete story as Budreau homes in on a few years when the musician struggled to find his chops again after having his teeth knocked out…