Summary:
A look at the life of Texas songwriting legend Blaze Foley.
My Thoughts:
It was Ethan Hawke (“First Reformed”) that brought me to this movie originally. I find Hawke is a pretty great actor, and I respect a lot of the career choices he makes even if the movies don’t always turn out the best. I’m a pretty big fan of Hawke, and as I’d never seen him direct I thought this would be a great place to start. Looking a little deeper into the film I discovered this was based on the true story of a Texas songwriter named Blaze Foley, and I also learned that Foley’s lover Sybil Rosen helped write this film with Ethan Hawke. Sybil herself is played by Alia Shawkat (“Green Room”) in this movie.
I didn’t know who Blaze Foley was before I heard about this movie, but I did listen to a few songs before I sat down to watch it, thinking that it would be better if I familiarized myself with the person about whom I was about to watch a biopic. So, after I listened to a greatest hits album of his music, thinking I had a general idea of what the man was about, I sat down to watch this film. Foley’s music is simple and sweet; he tends to mumble; his songs’ topics range from peaceful times and happy people to depression and sadness. I found this film captures the essence of Foley’s music though I in no way claim to be an expert), but it also painted a portrait of a person who seemed to live life with everything he had, even if, sometimes, he made mistakes or did things that offended people, he stuck to his guns and lived the way he wanted to live. People might not have always agreed with him, and he might not have always been right, but what Blaze Foley did do was live unapologetically, and in doing so he made himself a legend.
“I’m going down to the greyhound station, gonna get a ticket to ride…”
“Blaze” tells the story of Blaze Foley (Ben Dickey, “The Kid (2019)”), the legendary Texas songwriter in good times and bad. We follow him through his love affair with Sybil Rosen (Shawkat) when they were so poor the only place they could stay was in a friend’s (played by Wyatt Russell, “Ingrid Goes West”) cabin, to the times when Blaze was riding the investments of a trio of wealthy Texans (played by Richard Linklater, director of “Dazed and Confused”; Sam Rockwell, “Vice”; and Steve Zahn, “Joy Ride”). We follow him through fights at bars and conversations with old friends; listen to Blaze’s songs and watch him figure out who he wants to become. We also see things from the perspective of Blaze’s fans, after he met his tragic end.
There isn’t much of a conventional plot here, and that works wonders for this movie. It feels instead like we’re falling through snapshots of Blaze’s life and the lives of those he touched, and as this film was co-authored by Blaze’s lover Sybil Rosen, that totally makes sense. I love the way that Blaze is portrayed in this film because, though of course I never knew the man, this film seems like an accurate portrayal. Hawke and Rosen didn’t go out of their way to make Blaze overly likeable; they portrayed him as a man who lived passionately, even when he made mistakes. Blaze was a hard drinker; he liked to party, he hung around with degenerates; he cheated on Sybil… But at the same time he was a man with one of the biggest hearts you’ve ever seen…
The real Blaze Foley.
There’s a scene in this film where one of Blaze’s friends Townes (Charlie Sexton, “Boyhood”) is playing a gig in a small bar, and while he’s playing and singing, over the sound of the music you can hear the conversations of the crowd. The conversations are about Townes, how he’s a burnout, a junkie. You can see how this characterization hits Townes; he struggles to continue on stage, to keep singing. But then up goes Blaze to the stage, smoking a cigarette, his gait a little unsteady from drink. He stands behind Townes and starts singing for him; he’s his voice until Townes can shake the hurt from his own voice. That scene is both incredibly powerful and a perfect picture of Blaze. They show him as a man who is troubled, but a man who cares incredibly deeply about people. This scene alone bumped my rating from a 4 to a 4.5 star.
I found the way this film played out reminded me a lot of another biopic we talk about a lot on the True Myth Media Podcast, “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters.” In that film, director Paul Schrader (writer of “Taxi Driver”) painted a picture of the life of Japanese author and activist Yukio Mishima (author of The Temple of the Golden Pavilion), while at the same time giving us a look at his works. In this film, we get much the same thing. There are a lot of scenes in this movie where the settings are very minimalist, the camera is locked down, and we just listen to the music. Other scenes are just long takes pushing in on people having conversations or playing music on the porch. It feels like were being forced to slow down and appreciate Blaze’s music, but also the way of life that his music represents.
Verdict:
I haven’t seen anything else directed by Ethan Hawke, but this film gets me excited for more. Hawke is an incredibly talented actor (“First Reformed”/ “Training Day”), writer (“Before Midnight”), and now he’s proven himself to be an incredibly competent director. This film has a unique voice and vision, one that casts light on a man I otherwise would’ve never known about. It might not be as flashy or fun as “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “The Dirt”, but “Blaze” is one of the better musical biopics of the year, possibly even of this decade.
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