Sweet and Lowdown

source: Sweet and Lowdown

Woody Allen is a great storyteller and he once again delivers a very good movie. And again he pulls the best from his stars: Sean Penn as Emmet Ray and Samantha Morton as Hattie. It seems that in "Sweet and Lowdown" Allen tells his own story about the life of a jazz guitarist and his lover. Allen captures the 1930s Jazz Club nostalgia and bohemian.

I wouldn't read too much into the "ted G" "sweet" review placing so much emphasis on the movie as an autobiography. Woody does instill much personal resonance into his films, but its to his credit as a storyteller that he concocts such a gem in the standard misfit as our hero genre of film, an approach that seldom garners critics approval. The film is a beautiful celebration of the individual spirit; one whose rich storytelling belies an artistic spirit without compromise, unafraid to pursue an iconoclastic narrative of self-deprecating humour. The film can also be commended for revitalizing the music of legendary Django Reinhardt, and that particular era of swing jazz in general, rounding out, in vein of allen's earlier "broadway danny rose", the story of the consummate, uncompromising 100% artist. Bravo.

Woody Allen's best film -- it's his funniest and most tragic. Sean Penn's best performance -- simply because he is Emmet Ray, and Emmet Ray is this movie. The audience joins Emmet on an adventure of sorts through his enigmatic life. This is a truly wonderful character study, on a completely fictional character. All of the supporting cast is equally amusing -- but this is Penn's masterpiece.

No one makes them like this: simple, direct, funny but always very sensible and beautiful. Needless to say this movie is a typical Woody Allen flic, which is a complement. Sean Penn is a winner on this one, giving an unique performance, but, from my point of view, the real shiner here is Samantha Morton, which has a tenderness no words (could not) explain. She is among the all-time best portraits of innocence and sweetness in female role, and suceeds as a truly engaging character for which we fall instantly. Of course, her relationship with Penn's character, which is the exact opposite, is at times hilarious and touching. A priceless jewel, like all Allen movies, with good taste altogether.

God, I just LOVE this film......it's a 10 in crazy funny, a 10 in heart-wrenching pathos, AND a 10 in GREAT MUSIC! How could Woody go wrong.....he basically re-made his idol, Federico Fellini's 1954 masterpiece, "La Strada." He changed the setting and the characters' identities....but the plot is quite close throughout. And Samantha Morton truly channels "Gelsomina" from the Fellini classic, impish sweetness and all. Woody drops in, now and then, to explain how his character, Emmet Ray (is he real or isn't he?) hero-worships his contemporanious idol, Django Rheinhardt. It seems Ray is the SECOND greatest guitar player in the world (after Django). And smooth be is, behind the guitar, yet in every other setting he more resembles early klutzy Woody, but with an edge.

One of those Woody Allen movies you're already in the process of forgetting before it's over. Sean Penn, with a poof of hair that suggests the David Levine cartoons of Preston Sturges, plays Emmett Ray, the world's second-greatest jazz guitarist (after Django Reinhardt), and an all around louse, egomaniac, idiot, clod, and king of bad taste. Samantha Morton is his lover--a mute laundress--and Uma Thurman is a worldly writer who marries him. The cast is nifty, and Woody Allen lingers on Emmett's guitar lovingly. (This is not, like Robert Altman's KANSAS CITY, a movie for connoisseurs only.) There's nothing unpleasant in the movie; it's just one of those super-extra-minor Woodies, like MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, that force you to struggle to stay awake.

This is probably one of my favourite Woody films, along with "Hannah" and "Aphrodite," on the strength of its charm alone. Responsible for much, if not all of that charm, are Penn and Morton, who were able to keep me more or less glued to the screen, despite a somewhat directionless plot. I like that Allen didn't assume that he knew enough about Emmet Ray to create a seamless narrative of his life, and instead let the movie deal with what people knew or, in some instances, did not know. There was a wonderful sense of nostalgia as I watched the film that let me into the characters of Emmet and Hatty, which is a really nice place to be in. All the characters are vivid and enjoyable, as they all tend to be when Woody's name is on the script, and this quite detracted from the fact that in 140 minutes, not really a lot happened. Extremely enjoyable, I gave it a 7.

I've made mistake! I've made mistake! I've made mistake! Just live me alone!

"Sweet and Lowdown" is an Allen-film that I have really looked forward to, so when it finally came to my local cinema I just had to see it. The film is good, but it is certainly not a masterpiece. I really don't understand what the faux documentary scenes were there for. According to me they added nothing to the story while they made the experience of watching the film kind of irritating. The acting, though, is absolutely brilliant. Sean Penn and Samantha Morton are fantastic! Not the best Allen-film I have seen, that's "Bullets over Broadway", but still a good film. (6/10)