Round Midnight captures the life of a jazz musician perfectly. The late nights, fighting the post partum emptiness that follows a gig, the struggle to survive and keep one's body and soul together, the comeraderie that exists between the musicians. Everything was flawless.
Dexter Gordon's performance was breathtaking. Here is everything every jazz musician faces, every demon that must be conqured.
The music is a world in itself. The masters themselves playing their own music.
The Francois character had his own demons too. He abandoned his wife, and nearly abandoned his daughter, to chase his own muse that came to him in the form of the music and the people who played it. He took Gordon's character in so that he could repay the debt. And yet there was always an area of the musician's world he could only look at and never enter. He was an outsider that had been accepted by that tribe because of his love for one of their own. But he would never be one of them.
The movie is sad and joyful, tragic and beautiful, despolate and bountiful.
December 6, 2008 |  | A pretty good movie that suffers from lack of impact. |  |
This movie has a lot going for it. Dexter Gordon, a real (and real good) jazz-musician-turned-actor stars as Dale Turner, an alcoholic saxophone player who moves to Paris and rediscovers his music and life. His world-weary voice and vibrant music talent help him to carry the role, deemed good enough to have been nominated for an Academy Award. Herbie Hancock wrote the music, obtaining a sound track that is sprinkled with Hancockian licks and solid jazz classics, apparently performed by a number of famous jazz musicians, such as Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Pierre Michelot. With their support and the convenience of having a number of hit tunes to use in the sound track, it's no wonder Herbie won the Academy Award for best score for this movie. It's wonderful. Where the movie disappoints, though, is in the story, which is convoluted and unconvincing. It is supposedly based on things that happened to Bud Powell and Lester Young, but because it is not a biopic of either one of those guys, it ends up being about nobody. The frenchman who befriends Dexter Gordon's character is just not believable, especially when he says things like "Your music changed my life" to a fictional guy who doesn't play an original tune in the entire movie. I can't get wrapped up in somebody's life when I don't know who they are, and while some attempt is made to sway the audience to care about these forlorn characters, ultimately, the audience is left feeling detached and empty. For a peek into the world of 1960's jazz, though, the movie is adequate, and the sound track is first rate and pretty much worth the price of admission. You won't be overwhelmingly impressed by this movie, but you won't feel like you completely wasted two hours, either.
July 28, 2008"Round Midnight" is an exceptional piece of art in which the music acts almost as another main character. The lead performances are very good, and the all-star group of musicians make the soundtrack absolutely first-rate. However, I found the direction to be the strong point of the film. I know some people have suggested Scorsese had a heavy hand in directing even though he's only officially credited as a cast member, and perhaps they're right, but I thought it seemed uniquely distinct from just about anything I've ever seen, including Martin's films. The film is not a typical, sign-posted Hollywood standard and the style of the script takes some getting used to, but like most fine art, the completed piece is far superior to any single element, and the rich layering lends itself to enjoyment on subsequent viewings. A+!
January 15, 2008Lester Young never lived in France. Lester's last gig was in Paris but he never lived there.
Powell, on the other hand, spent years overseas playing.
Great movie, definitely based on the lives of Powell and Young. Gordon was brilliant in this movie.
December 26, 2007I have watched Round Midnight many times over the past 20 years including in a theatre when the movie first appeared. There is nothing I can say in this review that hasn't been said by the other 50 reviewers other than 1) although brilliant in concept and reality, it is a boring film 2)if you are a jazz fan then you simply must have this film in your collection for no other reason than seeing the all-star jazz musicians play. I think Lonette McKee's rendition of "How Long This Has Been Going On" is tremendous and I think Herbie Hancock's composing, arranging and comping were truly awesome. Dexter Gordon's portrayal of Dale Turner, while challenging to endure as a viewer sometimes, is probably as accurate as it could have been. I have been a fan of the tune "Chan's Song" every since I first saw this film. I applaud the people who believed in this story enough to make this film.
October 4, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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