Rent Bird (1988)

For Jazz Sax enthusiasts only - Bird review by JD

I have yet to see a convincing mime of instrument playing but Forest Whitaker's Sax. synch. was terrible. His acting of a drink and drug dependant musician was as unconvincing and uninteresting as you could possibly imagine for such an otherwise talented actor.

A film biography of a drug addict is a difficult undertaking, it hard to think of how it could have been done better but the result is underwhelming. The jazz tracks are great and a beautiful thing to listen to, it's just the rest that fails.

Jazz - Bird review by JD

I have read that Clint is a big 50's jazz fan. If you are too then this is probably a good film for you. I am only averagely interested in club jazz and so this film, even with the massive talent of Forest Whitaker, is pedestrian.

Brief Lives - Bird review by Steve

As a biopic of a music legend this is more for bebop aficionados than the casual viewer, though the dense weft of social history may interest both. This is the short life of Charlie 'Bird' Parker (1920-55) the saxophonist who revolutionised the sound of jazz, while destroying himself with booze and heroin.

Perhaps suitably for such a modernist way of playing, the script breaks up the timeline and drops in and out of the life, picking up the threads of romance, race, addiction and of course, the jazz. This only covers the peak years in any depth and there isn't much insight into Bird's own influences.

But we do hear plenty of the music. Parker's saxophone is isolated from historic- sometimes rare- recordings, and mixed into a new band assembled by director/fan Clint Eastwood, to better utilise modern stereo. So it's been polished but still offers an insight into why he's so revered and enduring. 

Forest Whitaker lacks charisma, but mimes effectively in some gorgeous recreations of '50s jazz clubs. For an outsider, the tragedy is the loss of such a cool scene to rock & roll, as much as Bird's ruined life. It's the period feel and the cool urban atmos- as well as the music- that make this worth seeing.