Let's Get Lost (1988)

96% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
87% of users liked it
(982 ratings)

Let's Get Lost is a penetrating Oscar-nominated documentary on the life of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker (1929-1988). After a generous amount of screen time devoted to Baker's American career, from his days with Charlie "Bird" Parker and Gerry Mulligan to the formation of his own combo, the film dwells… More Let's Get Lost is a penetrating Oscar-nominated documentary on the life of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker (1929-1988). After a generous amount of screen time devoted to Baker's American career, from his days with Charlie "Bird" Parker and Gerry Mulligan to the formation of his own combo, the film dwells upon Baker's lengthy tenure in Europe. Of particular interest are the clips culled from Baker's appearances in Italian films of the 1960s. In-depth interviews with Baker's friends and co-workers paint a portrait of a troubled genius, whose drug addiction and womanizing gradually eroded his talent. Much of the terminal footage is literally that, showing in harsh detail what Chet Baker had become in his last year on earth. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 5 min.
Directed By: Bruce Weber
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary

In Theaters: Apr 21, 1989 Limited
On DVD: Apr 17, 1990
Studio: Zeitgeist Films

Critic Reviews

Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times
Let's Get Lost is an atmospheric black-and-white portrait of a jazz trumpet player, an exemplar of West Coast 'cool jazz' in the age when rapid-fire bebop was hot, whose life, career and face were ruined by his various addictions.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
There are moments in Let's Get Lost when, if you squint just a little, [Chet] Baker is a ghost image of his former self, the 1950s musical equivalent of James Dean.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Watching Let's Get Lost, shot in a liquid black-and-white, we are lost in a monotonal, gorgeously shot reverie about Chet Baker, the jazz trumpeter whose alabaster-smooth, pretty face and plaintive tones broke hearts.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
First released in 1989, Let's Get Lost -- shot in the high-contrast black-and-white that's a hallmark of Weber's still photography -- is well worth revisiting on the big screen.
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Yes, it's about Baker, obviously, but a Baker who's somehow both much more and much less than the man seen on screen.
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
Let's Get Lost, Bruce Weber's haunting documentary about legendary jazz musician Chet Baker, first came out in 1989 and hasn't been easy to catch since. Now reissued in 35 millimeter, the film looks like a pristine time-capsule.
, Total Film
plays like an elegy for the demise of the cool, thick with the small-hours allure of addiction and infatuation but smart enough to see clearly.
Ali Catterall, Film4
A wide-eyed love letter to a jazz great, very much of its time, sporting stylish visuals and a sublime soundtrack.
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Slowly, surely this composite portrait of Chet then and now (or in 1987, when Weber shot the film) reveals its own depths.
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
This is simply the finest jazz documentary ever made.
Richard Knight, Windy City Times
A beautiful film - as flawed as its subject, and all the more fascinating because of its odd lapses.
Tricia Olszewski, Let's Not Listen
The film, shot in black and white, doesn't follow a linear storyline. But the message of his jet-setting lifestyle and, more crucial, the naturalness of his gift is clear.
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
Weber's documentary serves up an exquisite fusion of filmmaking style and subject matter to serve up a film that captures the essence of cool.
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News
It's a perfect meeting of filmmaker and subject, with Weber playing the role of the obsessed fan who, like everyone else who ever came into contact with Baker, gets burned by a man who literally made art out of inwardness.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
It's a stunner, and it's not like any film you've ever seen.
Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Although it offers an invaluable record of a self-destructive artist at the end of his life, it is also a repellent exploitation of this artist's decline.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Eric B

A thoughtful, but monotonous, documentary of a tragic jazz figure. Much like Chet Baker's music, the tone is continually soft and low-key. I suppose the most damning criticism I can make is that the film failed to convince me of his genius -- his trumpet-playing was lovely, but… More
A thoughtful, but monotonous, documentary of a tragic jazz figure. Much like Chet Baker's music, the tone is continually soft and low-key. I suppose the most damning criticism I can make is that the film failed to convince me of his genius -- his trumpet-playing was lovely, but not uniquely so, and his endless parade of melancholy love ballads did not connect with me at all. What made him focus so exclusively on this sedate, "cool" style of jazz? "Let's Get Lost" won't tell you. In a way, I think director Bruce Weber was "lucky" that his footage was shot so soon before Baker's death, because the film wouldn't be as notable if not for its happenstance feel of an epitaph.
Emily B

Chet Baker, the James Dean of jazz. Chet was no saint, and all his flaws are made clear by Bruce Weber but there's no denying that he was a legendary musician, and this is also made evident by Weber. Despite Chet's problems people instantly fell in love with him, the… More
Chet Baker, the James Dean of jazz. Chet was no saint, and all his flaws are made clear by Bruce Weber but there's no denying that he was a legendary musician, and this is also made evident by Weber. Despite Chet's problems people instantly fell in love with him, the numorous wives and girlfriends, the fellow musicians, the fans, and by the end of the film so was I. Even in the footage of the old and haggard Chet after years of drug abuse he still comes across as an enigmatic figure. I admit before watching this I didn't know much about Chet Baker, but whether you are an avid fan, or just have a passing interest in jazz, this is an interesting piece of work.
Grifty G

see it, even though you can't...