Customer Reviews

Lush Life [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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"Lush Life" is an outstanding and very "hip" portrayal of two jazz musicians making a living in the New York scene. Buddy and Al set the tone for the movie from the opening scene with a confident, but arrogant, statement of their musical abilities.

Anyone who has performed or hung out with musicians will definitely relate to Buddy and Al on a much higher level. Many times I found myself saying, "Yeah, I've been there!" throughout their hilarious and crazy musical quips and trips. Mr. Goldblum and Mr. Whitaker also do one of the best acting jobs "faking it" on their respective musical instruments (tenor sax and trumpet).

However, the movie takes on the dark side of the mortality issue with the realization that if you cannot do what you are the best at and love the most, then there is no reason for living. The ending takes on a very surrealistic edge.

The musical score (by Lennie Niehaus)is terrific! I just wish the credits listed the song titles and that there was a soundtrack.

If you love jazz music and musicians - buy this video!!! If you ARE a musician - buy this video!!! You won't regret it.

This movie has some great comedy lines, as well as thought-provoking drama. It focuses on the relationships of Al and Buddy, two musicians, and Al's wife. I've watched it many times; every time I watch it, I get something new out of it. Highly recommended for anyone who likes comedy, music, New York, or movies about relationships.

LUSH LIFE (1993) is a made-for-tv, Showtime, movie I did not know before seeing it on Flix, a Showtime channel, in 2009. As a longtime jazz fan I was blown away by the music composed, orchestrated and conducted by Lennie Niehaus. If you too are a jazz fan give it a shot and hope that someday the soundtrack music will appear on CD.

The film stars Jeff Goldblum (his tenor sax played by Bob Cooper), Forest Whitaker (his trumpet by Chuck Findley), and Kathy Baker, with Tracey Needham, Lois Chiles, Zack Norman, Don Cheadle, and Alex Desert. The music played: Misterioso (the famous Monk composition); Cherokee (Ray Noble); Walkin' (Richard Carpenter); Up Jumped Spring (Freddie Hubbard, sung by Sue Raney); All the Things You Are (Kern-Hammerstein II, sung by Ernie Andrews); I'm Old-Fashioned (Kern-Mercer, sung by Sue Raney). Among the musicans is Bill Watrous.

This movie was very representative of the scuffling life of jazz musicians. It also shows the bond that musicians form over playing together years and years. The singing by Kathy Baker is actually done by Sue Raney, a wonderful vocalist in LA. Jeff Goldblum's playing ( which looks pretty real)is done by Bob Cooper also a wonderful LA musician and husband of June Christy..both now deceased.) Chuck Findlay was the horn player for Forest Whittaker's character, alive and well and blowing hard in LA. Jack Sheldon still plays many nights a week in LA and he plays Norman in this movie. It has captured the rhythm of

this life in a way that many other films have not and Lennie Niehaus big band charts are superb. They also allow the musicians to play so you feel the music as much as track the story. All this great music is still being played in LA, New York, Chicago, whereever, people just need to get out and support it and the musicians that are making it happen.

Highly recommend this for jazz fans and those just curious about what it takes.

I loved this movie! I just wonder why Showtime didn't have the sense to make the movie soundtrack available on CD! Maybe the will take a hint.

Life is lush. You're born... You play... You eat... You play... You drink... You play some more... then you die. What else is there. Enjoy the New York jazz scene. Enjoy the fine performances by Goldblum, Whittaker, and Kathy Baker. Mostly just enjoy the music; That's what this whole ball of wax is about. The End.

One of my favorites because it feels authentic and the ending has a nice twist. The film is not only about the jazz scene and the obsessive creative urge, but about friendship. Recommened by this jazz musician. I'd love to see this released on DVD... I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Excellent performances by Goldblum and Whitaker!

Lush Life is simply the best Jazz-driven movie ever made. Everytime I see it I fall for its half hyper-realistic, half musical fantasy mode. Forest Whitaker and Jeff Goldblum have amazing chemestry, and the relationship between Goldblum and Kathy Baker is brilliant. I wish that the soundtrack was available.

It was a little too kenny g-ish and impotent. A sign of the times, I suppose. The party was definitely, to me, a poor climax. I would have expected a more impromptu gathering where the players played, and there was a bit more wildness. As is, the movie is, as Goldblum explains to his about to depart wife, an affirmation, that "we're hip." And in that sense, it's a bit lame. Goldblum and Whitaker were both excellent, perhaps the best acting I've ever seen from either of them. They carry the movie beyond the somewhat one-dimensional dialogue (yeah, and we'll play!) and music that was okay, but not as good as the music in Mo Better Blues, another movie about a trumpeter. The scene when Goldblum's wife is supposed to be singing?? Trash. In fact, the wife more often than not, annoys me. But the scenes showing the two leads playing their instruments are great. Furhtermore, Forrest Whitaker had the talent, throughout the movie, to actually take the film "to the end."