It’s nearly the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.
It’s the calm before the storm; a lull in big pictures to give us all time to breathe and digest what we’ve seen so far this summer, a time to enjoy some smaller movies before heading back into the action blockbusters.

This week sees the opening of Born to Be Blue, a biopic about jazz legend Chet Baker. In much the same vein is Race, opening next week, and based off of American track legend Jesse Owens.

Both these movies deserve your attention if you’re in the mood for something a little more story-driven this weekend.

[Slug CG]
Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

[Slug CG]
Born to Be Blue (2016, Robert Budreau)
A re-imagining of Baker's musical comeback in the late '60s.

Born to Be Blue is a look at the life of jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker.

Ethan Hawke stars as the lead, and truly lights up the screen as Chet, a musician whose tumultuous life is reimagined with wit and style. In the 1950s, Baker was one of the most famous trumpeters in the world, renowned as a pioneer of the West Coast jazz scene. By the 1960s, he was all but washed up, his career and personal life in shambles due to years of heroin addiction. Director Robert Budreau zeroes in on Baker's life at a key moment in the 1960s, just as the musician attempts to stage a hard-fought comeback, spurred in part by a passionate romance with a new flame. Blending fact with fiction and driven by an excellent performance by Hawke, Born to Be Blue unfolds with the style and improvisation of great jazz.

[Slug CG]
Race (2016, Stephen Hopkins)
Owens faces off against Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy.

Race is based on the true story of Jesse Owens, the legendary athletic superstar whose quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrust him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics. Here, he faced off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy. Race is a story of courage, determination, tolerance, and friendship, and an inspiring drama about one man's fight to become an Olympic legend.

Stephan James gives an inspiring performance as Owens, but the story could delve a little deeper into the history and what Owens achieved during his fight both in America and overseas. It is, however, a difficult feat to cover all the historical, biographical, athletic, and political bases that are present, but what Race does, it does well.