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Miles at the MoviesThe best and worst Kind of Blue moments in screen history.

By Kim GittlesonPosted Monday, Aug. 17, 2009, at 12:23 PM ET

Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time, and judging from its frequent appearance on television and in the movies, it's a particular favorite of filmmakers. In honor of the 50^th anniversary of the landmark album, Slate has compiled five notable Kind of Blue moments from screen history. We left out the unfortunate reggae covers and scenes in which the album is merely background music. We focused instead on instances when Kind of Blue is woven into the plot. What we found is that the album tends to be used to achieve a particular effect, often showing up when a character is experiencing a transformation. When Kind of Blue is spinning in the background, an evil journalist might become a future husband (Runaway Bride) or a washed up cop might discover he's still got some fire in his belly (The Wire). Take a look, and give a listen.

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In the Line of Fire (1993)
Clint Eastwood plays a washed-up Secret Service agent who lost his post beside the president after the Kennedy assassination. In this clip, he returns home after almost killing his partner in a counterfeit bust gone bad. He hangs up his coat, picks up the stereo remote, and turns on "All Blues." As the fluttering of Bill Evans' piano gives way to swinging, languid saxophone riffs, the grizzled agent, alone in his apartment, begins stripping himself of his hardened exterior, both literally and metaphorically—the gun drops on the table, followed by his handcuffs and badge.

Pleasantville (1998)
Probably the best Kind of Blue moment in the movies. Siblings David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) have been transported into the black-and-white world of the fictional TV series Pleasantville. As they begin to expose the cloistered townsfolk to sex, painting, and jazz, the town slowly starts to take on color. Here, the song "So What" is used to score the most significant transformation in the film, the turning point when the town's young people embrace the knowledge David and Jennifer have brought them. Davis' solo comes in right as the camera pans out to a brighter world.

Runaway Bride (1999)
The most obvious, and most obviously wrong, Kind of Blue moment on film. Richard Gere plays Ike Graham, a reporter who has been sent to write a feature on Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts), who has left three men at the altar. Maggie is initially determined to prevent Ike from writing the story. Eventually, however, she's convinced that he's not the scoundrel she thought he was—but only after she discovers he's a Miles Davis fan. In this scene, she presents Ike with a copy of the original Kind of Blue LP. "Wow, this is so rare!" he responds. "You should hold on to it!" Not exactly. The close-up of the album initially shows the original 1959 cover, but when Gere takes the record out toward the end of the scene, the Columbia Jazz Masters reissue cover is shown. Neither is worth much: The original '59 album was pressed at the wrong speed and the Columbia Masters LP was part of a larger, extremely popular, reissue series.

The Wire, Season 1: "Old Cases" (2002)
Detective Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters), heretofore considered washed-up, begins his journey back into the thick of things in this episode from the first season of The Wire. After Lester discovers a crucial clue in the investigation into a Baltimore drug ring, detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) invites him out for a drink. McNulty is impressed with Freamon's keen intellect, not to mention his cynicism—Lester, Jimmy discovers, is "natural police." Freamon's rebirth is accompanied by the soulful "All Blues."

Dexter, Season 2: "That Night, A Forest Grew" (2007)
Miles might not have appreciated the invocation of Kind of Blue in this episode of Dexter. Keith Carradine plays Special Agent Frank Lundy, the innovative head of an FBI task force hunting a serial killer known as the Bay Harbor Butcher.* While staring at a particularly gruesome series of photos of dismembered body parts, he turns on his CD player. As the opening chords of "So What" crescendo, Lundy theorizes that the killer, while methodical, occasionally liked to "improvise," drawing a parallel between Davis' trumpet and the serial killer's handiwork.

Did we forget one of your favorite Kind of Blue moments? Tell us what we're missing in the Fray.

Correction, Aug. 17, 2009: The original version of this article misnamed the serial killer in an episode of Dexter. The killer is the Bay Harbor Butcher, not the Bay Area Butcher. (Return to the corrected sentence.)

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Kim Gittleson is a Slate intern.

COMMENTS

I have easily listened to Kind of Blue ten times more than I have listened to any other music in my life. It's a bit annoying that it is so popular, but the truth is some truly great things can also be accessible and easy to enjoy. It is far and away my favorite album.

Having said that, I must say I don't find it at all cinematic, and I haven't enjoyed the music's use in anything I've ever watched. I'm not sure if it is because I just know the music too well and that's distracting, or that the music is just too good and compelling; competing too much with the visual content. I don't really think it is the latter, as I've enjoyed other great music in movies; finding it complimentary. Thinking about it more, the former doesn't make sense for the same basic reason.

So what is it? I can imagine someone making an animated video for the album and enjoying that, but that is not the same thing at all. I've long thought that Peter Gabriel's score for The Last Temptation of Christ (other music I've listened to a lot) was sorely misused, but I'm certain I could enjoy it in a movie if it was used properly. So that's not the same either.

Ultimately, I think the emotions the music evokes for me just aren't the same as those I get from cinematic experiences. This is unique in my experience...I can't think of any other music that I feel that way about.

Anybody else feel this way?

-- kuruman
(To reply, click here)

So far none of the "Kind of Blue" songs have turned me on in any of the above films. I did almost fall out of my chair when "Bitches Brew" showed up in Mann's "Collateral."

-- rodyrandy
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Yeah, I see where you're coming from. The problem therein is that those of us who have "superior" taste in music that hate to see our favorite tunes used in crassly commercial ways often come off as effete or even classist. In this case, I don't think it does much damage but turning the other 95% of the population on to something great can't be ALL bad, can it? In fact, I think it's kinda cool. Would you rather have the masses listening to the flavor of the week? They're gonna do that anyway. So long as some evil corporation doesn't co-opt our faves into hummable jingles, I'm cool with that. Must go give it another listen. Cheers!

-- sawmonkey10
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