Jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker (Ethan Hawke) is the focus of this biographical drama directed by Robert Budreau. This legendary musician and singer was the inventor of West Coast swing and the incarnation of a style that was cool and laid back. By the time he reaches high stride in his musical career as a jazz virtuoso, he has two consuming commitments: a passion for playing the trumpet and an addiction to heroin. For Baker, the two are intimately related: "It gives me confidence," he says of the drug, "Time gets wider, not just longer, and I can get inside every note."
Baker is romanced by Jane (Carmen Ejogo), an African-American actress who stands by her man after he is brutally beaten by some dealers he owes money. Most of his teeth are knocked out in the assault, and it takes a long and disciplined period of time for him to play the trumpet with dentures. Jane devotes most of her energy to helping him survive during this transitional phase of his career where they live in her VW van and he uses methadone to stave off his heroin addiction. His goal is to resurrect his career with a one-night performance at Birdland with two jazz masters – Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis – in attendance.
This sobering biodrama probes the pain and the pleasure of the intimate relationship between the trumpeter and Jane. She is a witness to the anger and disapproval he stirs up in his father (Stephen McHattie) and in her father on visits home. When she decides to devote more of her time to her own career, Jane sets in motion what will turn out to be heart-rending for these lovers. His old producer Dick Bock (Callum Keith Rennie) watches from the sidelines to see whether Jane, his trumpet, or heroin will win Baker's allegiance.
The script by writer and director Robert Budreau pulls this musical biopicture ahead of so many others in this crowded genre of stories about self-destructive musicians, singers, songwriters. and band members. The intense performances by Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo keep us cheering them on in their efforts to build a sturdy life together in love.