Dickey would have made a strong impression regardless. But it turns out he can act, and sing, and has a genuine magnetism that combines with an endearing quality to create a highly appealing screen presence.
A songwriter making his major acting debut, Dickey captures the burly, vulnerable quality of Foley's lyrics and vocal delivery, creating a palpable sense that the songs were excavated from the darkest corners of his soul.
Beautifully shot, this low-key life story feels at times like you're flipping through an old album, crammed with artfully arranged memories and aphorisms.
Hawke's fascinated by the tug of war between artistic freedom and domestic responsibility, and he's found clever ways to deal with that theme while zigzagging through Foley's life of music, alcohol, cocaine and women.
A quietly mournful and gently celebratory look at a boisterous, but underrated personality, Ethan Hawke's biopic Blaze is a humane approach to creating iconography organically and empathetically.
Hawke argues movingly that creative success has nothing to do with fame and everything to do with how an artist grows as a person and impacts the people around him.
People who knew him said he gave off so much menace, he scared bikers. This is a film about a big drunk lovable, doomed song-writing Teddy bear who happens to be named Blaze Foley.
