The Fabulous Baker boys

The Baker brothers, Frank and Jack, have been playing together for thirty-one years, as piano accompanists, in an array of bars and nightclubs. In the throes of a dead-end career, the cynical Jack is particularly embittered by their lack of success and thwarted dreams of glory that has resulted in a slew of bad gigs at sleazy dives. Frank, a responsible father of two who worries for their finances, is willing to take any gig for a buck. But Jack is resentful of Frank’s passivity and inability to defend his honour or art. Increasingly unemployable, the brothers hire a singer to spruce up their act - and Susie Diamond, ballsy, rough, lower class but talented, transforms them into a classy act. The alluring presence of the sexy Susie creates tensions for the brothers who are forced to address the inequities and rivalry that mars their relationship. Although the formula of the outsider who upsets the dynamics of a long-standing show-biz relationship has been used frequently in cinema, “The Fabulous Baker boys” still engages and entertains, greatly assisted by the stellar performances of the leads, Jeff and Beau Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer and an array of sultry tunes.