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Sweet and Lowdown 1999 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Woody Allen
PG-13, 93 min. (sexual content, some substance abuse) |
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Starring: Sean Penn, Samantha Morton, Uma Thurman, Brian Markinson, Anthony LaPaglia, Gretchen Mol
Producer: Jean Doumanian
Screenplay: Woody Allen
Cinematography: Fei Zhao
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Released: 12.03.99 (Limited) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Woody Allen's films have always been closely followed by a number of critics and fans, but in most of those
he is the film's director and lead actor. In Sweet and Lowdown, Allen is able to work with a story close to his heart, jazz. His
love of the genre undoubtedly leads us to the story of Emmett Ray, an extremely gifted but selfish guitar player who tours
the country trying to prove to others that he is the best (or maybe second best) guitarist in the world. He loves women, but
not enough to become too attached to them. He believes his life is meant for something special; he won't allow a woman
to tie him down to the ordinary. But because of his arrogance and sometimes plain stupidity, he often shows up for his
work late, drunk, or not at all. The film is told through the eyes of respected people in the music industry as a series of
stories (some probably untrue) about Ray's early life when he was making a name for himself. Allen is only shown a few times,
providing commentary and some explanation to what we are seeing, but what he accomplishes behind the camera is one of
his better efforts.
Ray, emphatically portrayed by Sean Penn, is shown beginning his career in a town where he is revered for his talent, yet is
also known for his "stable of women", alluding to his managing of some hookers in town. He needs money, but doesn't know
how to save it, which makes for a difficult life ahead of him. He meets who is obviously the love of his life, Hattie (Samantha
Morton), but she is dumb (she can't speak) and not very bright. However, she has a large heart and loves Ray's music, which
attracts him to her because she only listens intently without any rebuttle to his pompous arrogance (or his awkward love of
shooting rats or watching trains). The story is no more than
a series of smaller stories told in chronological order, but comes across as a complete story when taken as a whole. His
journeys take him away from Hattie and into marraige to an aspiring writer, Blanche (Uma Thurman), but dissolves into
a disaster (her adultery notwithstanding) because Ray never meant to marry in the first place. He eventually discovers his
mistake in leaving Hattie, but it's too late.
The reason the stories are somewhat embellished, and probably untrue in some instances, is because Ray disappeared from
the music scene entirely shortly after his divorce from Blanche. No one really knows what became of him, but his few classic
recordings with his guitar are revered by jazz enthusiasts to this day.
Ray is haunted throughout the film by the idea that only one guitarist in the world is better than him - a French gypsy named
Django Reinhardt. He can't escape the memory of hearing him play, and he faints every time he encounters him (as is
shown in one the questionable tales of his life). The irony is, that in the final recordings before he vanished, his guitar playing
is every bit as good as Django's - although he probably never accepted this fact. His dream had been reached, but he wasn't
able to accept it. Many said that before his best work, he was great but lacked an "openness" to his music, which is what
his failed relationship with Hattie provided him.
Sean Penn, who is rightly nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Ray, gives one of the better efforts of his career.
He knows just how much to give, and how much to hold back, from his role. And his guitar playing looks seemless, although
he is not actually producing the sound, obviously. You can see his vulnerable moments, but also his arrogance, his insane
belief that women only hold him down. Samantha Morton should have also been nominated for her role as Hattie - she
portrays the character with as much talent as any of the silent movie stars ever did in the 1920's. This is a real test for an
actor; can they successfully portray feelings, needs, and wants in an effective manner without ever uttering a word? Morton
accomplishes this almost with ease, and makes her performance memorable.
Sweet and Lowdown has a nice feel to it - you are involved in Ray's character, but at a distance. The movie also has many
lighter moments, which takes some of the tension away from his character. But in the end, we are left with a broken man,
one who finds truth too late, a by-product of his own philosophy of women. It could be considered a warning to others, but
mainly the film is a docu-drama peppered with a few exacerbated stories that show the character of the man portrayed. There's not much to
dislike in this film; it's an entertaining and enjoyable movie, which is one of the reasons it's also one of the year's best.
© 2000 Jonathan Cornwell
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 |
 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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