This dramatic history of Chicago's Chess Records has a superb soundtrack(though it consists almost entirely of covers) and its insights into the relationship between white money making businessmen and poor black talent back in the stifling '50s more than makes up for its overwrought melodrama, historic inaccuracies and poor script.
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LET'S GET LOST (1988)
Certification15 Our Rating
Winner of an Oscar for "Best Documentary", this film (beautifully shot in black and white) recaptures the life and music of the late, great jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. The founder of the Californian school of "Cool Jazz" this film is in itself remarkably cool and stylish.
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RAY (2004)
Certification15 Our Rating
A mesmerising dramatisation of one of the kings, Ray Charles. Unsurprisingly the soundtrack is pure bliss, but it is Jamie Foxx in the title role that pulls everything together, an hypnotic performance of a music legend, through all his highs and lows, and one of those increasingly rare examples of a leading actor Oscar that actually makes sense.
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