X
- 2019
- R
- Abramorama
- 1 h 48 m
- 2019
- R
- Abramorama
- 1 h 48 m
Summary Little is known about the life of musician Buddy Bolden: He was born on September 6, 1877. At the age of 30, he was committed to an asylum where he died in 1931. His only known recording has never been found. He invented Jazz.
Directed By: Dan Pritzker
Written By: David Rothschild, Dan Pritzker
- 2019
- R
- Abramorama
- 1 h 48 m
- 2019
- R
- Abramorama
- 1 h 48 m
Bolden
50
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary Little is known about the life of musician Buddy Bolden: He was born on September 6, 1877. At the age of 30, he was committed to an asylum where he died in 1931. His only known recording has never been found. He invented Jazz.
Directed By: Dan Pritzker
Written By: David Rothschild, Dan Pritzker
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
50
17% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
67% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
17% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
50
17% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
67% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
17% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
The result is sometimes dizzying, enchanting or confounding, but it is certainly never boring.
Since the lead character is effectively a mystery man, some lack of grounding is appropriate. Unfortunately, the impressionism — the improvisation, you might say, of this particular life (mirroring, one supposes, Bolden's approach to music) — is so dominant that it finally proves a crutch.
Unfortunately, the film, costarring Erik LaRay Harvey, Robert Ri’chard and Ian McShane, turns overly violent, raw and showy, undermining the glorious music (written, arranged and performed by Wynton Marsalis), superb period re-creation and Carr’s powerful lead turn.
Pritzker and Rothschild’s script feels like such a composite of jazz biopics that its only in the performance sequences, parceled out stingily amid the misery, in which Bolden really comes alive.
What we end up with is a film that contains many fine moments -- the young Bolden's discovery of rhythm, an imagined discussion on musical improvisation between Bolden and clarinetist George Baquet, a look at racial politics of the day -- but those moments don't quite coalesce into a consistently satisfying whole.
Most filmgoers will come away only mildly convinced of Bolden’s place as jazz’s inventor and even less sure that the movie they just saw spun a coherent or compelling narrative.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 User Ratings
6.8
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 User Ratings
6.8
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
King Bolden
Release Date May 3, 2019
Duration 1 h 48 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline Where the Music Began
Website
https://boldenmovie.com/
Awards
Camerimage
• 1 Nomination
Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA)
• 1 Nomination
