Sweet and Lowdown
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Movie Reviews of Sweet and Lowdown
Movie Review: Lightweigt Allen is still a comedic pleasure
Summary: 4 Stars
Director Woody Allen made 32 movies between 1966 and 1999. That's about one per year. He was young when his career took off; in fact, he was famous before he got behind the camera. The early days were remarkable, and he hit his peak in 1977 with Annie Hall which won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Since then he has received eleven more nominations and won one additional statuette. In 1972 he was lured to Hollywood to direct a big budget comedy called Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, which was a boxoffice hit but a critical bomb. Ever since, the director has stayed put in New York and made only small budget movies characterized by high profile stars, literate scripts, and stories generally centered around his phobias and obsessions. His movies quit making money in the 1990s because, I suspect, he and his style went out of fashion. Still, he remains one of America's great directors, and Sweet and Lowdown, while one of his more lightweight efforts, is a delightful treat.Sweet and Lowdown is the story of Emmett Ray [Sean Penn], the world's second best jazz guitarist 1930s. It unfolds in the style of a documentary, and, while everything is made up, Allen makes it so convincing that I know of one reviewer who fell for it and wrote as if Ray had been a real musician. Ray is a complex character, a true artist. He loves women, but they, along with everything else in this world, take a back seat to music, his one true love. He is reckless and impulsive. He drinks and gambles far too much. One day he meets a mute girl named Hattie [Samantha Morton]. It's love at first sight for her, although it's never clear if she's in love with him, his music or both. A compulsive talker, Emmett has much trouble dealing with her at first, but their relationship builds over time. He can't stand to be tied down. He eventually ditches her, only to realize later he really loves her. Later, Emmett marries Blanche [Uma Thurman], a sophisticated but batty writer who is constantly asking him why he is feeling what he is feeling. This drives him crazy, epescially since he never has an answer, and the marraige never stands a chance.
Sean Penn, who claimed he was retiring from acting a decade ago, is remarkable as Emmett Ray. He learned the guitar from the musician who actually plays on the soundtrack, and he is so good at it that no trick shots were required. His body language in the movie says artistic type perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He's both amusing and sad to watch. Samantha Morton nearly steals the spotlight as Hattie. Since she plays a mute, she has no dialog. She expresses everything with her eyes and her expressions.
There is drama in Sweet and Lowdown, but primarily it's a comedy, one of Allen's best recently.
Movie Review: Woody Allen looks at an artist and his ego. A fine movie.
Summary: 4 Stars
I was lucky enough to see Woody Allen's 1999 release "Sweet and Lowdown" in the theater, twice in fact! I say "lucky" not only because this is an enjoyable and clever film, but because the film only played for a short while, and mainly in small "arthouse" theaters. This is really a shame, because "Sweet and Lowdown" could easily have appealed to wide audience, and not only to those who frequent Woody Allen films. This is the bittersweet tale of Emmett Ray, a fictional depression-era jazz guitar legend who is cursed with an ego of truly IMMENSE proportions! Arrogant ol' Emmett would love you to believe that he is the greatest musician to ever strap on a guitar, but his love/hate relationship with real-life guitar legend Django Reinhardt gives us a hint of his underlying insecurity. Emmett, played with utter precision by Sean Penn, is the kind of self-worshiping, self-absorbed "artist" who walks all over those close to him without really noticing them. The flippant way in which Emmett treats the women in his life is downright disgraceful, and is sometimes even painful to watch thanks to Penn's expert acting. The story is told in a sort of PBS doumentary style, with several "jazz experts" (including Woody Allen as himself) providing much of the details of his life through on-camera interviews and voice over narration. The story follows the ups and downs (mostly downs) of Emmett's musical career and private life, and gives us both lighthearted comedy and subtle food-for-thought along the way. Emmett is a man completely out of touch with his own emotions, and the film realistically portrays the outworkings of an artistic ego running out-of-control. A highlight of "Sweet and Lowdown" is the stellar performance of British actress Samantha Morton as one of Emmett's put-upon lady friends, an all-too-understanding mute girl named Hattie. Morton lights up the screen with her unusual screen presence, and in the course of the story she wins us over with her genuine sweetness. (Was the title "Sweet and Lowdown" meant to refer to the unbalanced relationship between Hattie and Emmett?). As you would expect from a film written and directed by Woody Allen, the dialogue is sharp throughout, and the films visual style keeps the story moving forward in a positive way. If you are looking for an alternative to all of the standard Hollywood fare of today, then "Sweet and Lowdown" may be just what you are looking for!Movie Review: Something a Little Different from Woody Allen
Summary: 4 Stars
I've never been a big fan of Woody Allen's more mainstream movies, but I really liked this film. Allen draws upon his knowledge of jazz to bring the life of fictional jazz guitarist Emmett Ray (the second greatest jazz guitarist in the world), and a completely irresponsible and idiosynchratic person. Who else would take his dates to the dump to shoot rats? Despite his considerable talent, Emmett lives in fear of his idol, the great Django Rheinhardt. For those of you unfamiliar with jazz, Rheinhardt really existed and during his lifetime was one of the finest guitar players the world has ever known.Sean Penn, an actor who is sadly better known for his brief marriage to Madonna than for his considerable acting skills, turns in an Oscar-worthy performance as Emmett, playing him as a lovable but quirky and ultimately vulnerable character (Penn received an Oscar nomination for this portrayal, incidentally). Uma Thurman appears briefly as Ray's socialite wife who marries him more out of curiosity than love. Samantha Morton practically steals the movie away from Penn as the deaf-mute girlfriend who unconditionally loves him despite Emmett's inherent self-centeredness and lack of trustworthiness. The director appears briefly explaining the life and times of Emmett in documentary style. Although I didn't particularly care for this way of presenting the picture, it was at most a minor distraction.
Whether you're a jazz afficianado or just appreciate an interesting character study, this motion picture is worth a look.
Movie Review: The Tragedy of Being Second-Best
Summary: 4 Stars
Whether it's the quirky antics of Emmett Ray (Penn) or the wonderfully, understated affection of Hattie (Morton), this movie manages to strike a chord with a host of movie audiences. The story, about the second-greatest guitar player in the world and his tragic life as a musician/womanizer, is made even more interesting by the biographical method that Allen uses to unfold the story. What is particularly interesting about this approach is to note how every person sounds almost magical when talked about by fans and others-to witness their (often) destructive lives is something far different. Additionally, Allen's humor penetrates the film, but it is not distracting. In fact, in most places, it serves to make the "storytelling" style of the film more enjoyable to watch. Samantha Morton's performance as Hattie (a mute lover of Emmett's) is absolutely superb. I find myself leaning forward towards the screen, as if expecting her to speak at any moment. Morton manages to leap along just fine without any dialogue; her performance is believable and is truly one of the most endearing aspects of the film. One feels for Emmett's loss and tragedy, but it is nothing compared to the emotion one feels for Hattie's character.
A fan of Woody Allen will certainly enjoy this film and those that have given up on Allen in recent years will find this film to be a nice change. Great acting, a charming story, and a modern day tragedy. All of this plus some great jazz and guitar playing make this film worth a look.
Movie Review: All about performance
Summary: 4 Stars
Mercifully, Woody Allen appears in this film only as one of many narrators--all either jazz critics or DJ's--which is why I was willing to watch it at all. Unlike the films, post Annie Hall, in which the unbeautiful Allen invariably plays a "romantic" lead, he has, this time out, stayed out of the camera's way to create what amounts to a biopic of legendary, yet little-known, guitarist Emmett Ray--considered by many to be the second greatest jazz guitarist ever, after Django Rheinhardt.Penn's performance as the gambling, drunken, pimping, egocentric, unfeeling Ray (who faints at the sight of Django and weeps at the sound of his music) is just terrific. Better yet is Samantha Morton's portrait of the mute Hattie, with whom Ray lives off and on for a number of years. In truth, this is Morton's movie. She is heartbreakingly good as the forever-eating, lovestruck young woman who, at the sound of Penn's/Ray's rendition of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" loses her heart.
The music is the other star of this film; it is great stuff--a soundtrack worth having for lovers of early jazz. And if the Ray tracks are anything to go by, he was, indeed, the second greatest guitarist of our times.
A film worth seeing.