Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.
Gordon goes the limit as Turner, dedicating his performance to all the cats who've gone before.
– Rita Kempley,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
You do not need to know a lot about jazz to appreciate what is going on because, in a certain sense, this movie teaches you everything about jazz that you really need to know.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
No actor could do what the great jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon does in 'Round Midnight.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
The director's perenially heavy mood seems especially well suited to this indigo-shaded story of a black American saxman (Dexter Gordon) living and performing in Paris in the late 50s.
– Pat Graham,
Chicago Reader,
8 Apr 2008
fresh:
Round Midnight is a superbly crafted music world drama in which Gallic director Bertrand Tavernier pays a moving dramatic tribute to the great black musicians who lived and performed in Paris in the late 1950s.