Posterity offers two wildly contrasting images of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. This partially fictionalised biopic from Canadian writer-director Robert Budreau does justice to both of them.
In this watchable biopic, the troubled jazz trumpeter makes a tempestuous comeback, embracing drugs, sex, fame – and music.
The period detail is richly textured; however the music – Hawke attempts to recreate Baker’s laconic vocal style – seems a little thin and unpersuasive.
Framed with smoky cinematography from Steve Cosens, the result is a cool, crucial indie of the sort that now feels all too rare.
Hawke makes it feel truthful in a way that conventional music biopics rarely manage.
A tough, uncompromising take on a jazz legend, lifted by a never-been-better Ethan Hawke — an early contender for Best Actor consideration come awards season.