It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I think that most of the people who had watch this movie doesn't really get that this is not a biography of Miles Davis, the intention it was not to make a documentary but a credible story about the years of Miles retirement; that's what a movie is meant to be, enjoy.The director doesn't want to show us the usual Davis but a more grotesque figure that flows through the memories of his life between success, love and regret on a constant search of himself.It's a good movie with some very interesting directorial choices, he has no pretensions to show us what really happen, just leaves us wondering what it could be.That's my review, you don't like it? "So What?"

I read about the story line before watching and expected a disappointment (as a miles fan) but it was not that horrible. This is actually two movies: an invented part about miles, some journalist and stolen tapes and historical accurate flashbacks on miles earlier life. The stolen tape story is over the top and kind of unnecessary but its not that unfunny. don cheadle is doing a great job holding it together, keeping the movie from turning into some cartoon. would have preferred a real bio-pic but thats coming from a miles davis fan and the average movie goer probably appreciates the added action. where the movie really shines are the flashbacks to miles career and life in the 50s and 60s. they did a hell of a job recreating scenes in the recording studio, on the stage etc...its sadly just a minor part of the movie, but its something.

It's the late 70's. Jazz musician Miles Davis (Don Cheadle) has stopped publishing new works. He is constantly taking drugs, filled with regrets, and living alone. Reporter Dave Braden (Ewan McGregor) forces his way into his home and eventually befriends him. Mile's record producer steals his tape and he sets off to get it back with a gun. There are also flashbacks of earlier days when Miles is married to Frances Taylor. He often cheated on her as their marriage deteriorated.Don Cheadle took the jazz music to heart. This is a rambling story that takes some unusual turns. The flashbacks are more traditional. Cheadle delivers a great performance as usual. Its freeflowing style does feel aimless for the first half. It's hard to feel the flow or the direction. It does turn into a weird thriller after the tape gets stolen. It's an interesting idea to change up the traditional biopic but I don't find it successful.

I watched this at home on DVD from my local public library. My wife chose to not see it, not her kind of movie.I was a trumpet player through high school, college, and about 20 years of my adult life. I of course knew of Miles Davis but his music is not what I enjoyed hearing. For old style Jazz give me Louis Armstrong, or more currently Wynton Marsalis. Still, recognizing how popular Davis was in certain circles I was anxious to see this movie. He had a number of medical issues and addictions and he died in 1991 at the age of 65.The movie is not at all what I expected. As they discuss and explain in the DVD extra they never wanted to make a "cradle to grave" documentary of Miles Davis, that would be dull and not at all in line with how Davis created his music. So they made a film that has a sort of haphazard structure, not linear at all, and instead of focusing on his playing the story is a fictional heist caper.The main story is set in the late 1970s when Davis was in a several year hiatus, he said he just wasn't inspired and he never created new music just to satisfy Columbia, the studio that had him under contract. But when a reporter from Rolling Stone looks him up, and discovers a "session tape" Davis made, everyone was anxious to hear his new music. The tape is stolen, there is a chase scene, and that turns out to be the core of the story. Many flashbacks are used and it isn't always clear how they relate to the 1970s present.Miles Davis is played by Don Cheadle who also wrote and directed. He is very good in the role, he makes a very believable Davis. And Ewan McGregor is the reporter, Dave Braden.I enjoyed the movie, it was good to get a glimpse of who Miles Davis the person might have been. Viewers expecting to see a documentary may be disappointed.SPOILERS: When it is all done, the tape is recovered, and we hear some of the music, Braden asks Miles, "All I hear is organ, when do I hear you?" (Meaning the trumpet.) Davis answers "That is me." His new session tape was of him playing organ. In real life Davis actually began playing piano before he took up trumpet, and he spent some time studying at Julliard after high school before striking out on his own.