Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Ghoulumbe Better than most people think

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The_Film_Cricket Emmett Ray is a man who can't see past the end of his nose. Were it not for his fingers which play jazz music beautiful enough to make angels weep he would probably be a bum living in an alley.Woody Allen's 1930s comedy 'Sweet and Lowdown' is a character study about a character whose music is sweet but whose personality is as pleasant as bad cheese. He is legendary as 'The Second Greatest Jazz Guitarist in the World'. However his idea of a date is to take a woman to the tracks to watch the trains or down to the garbage dump to shoot rats.He meets a mute woman named Hattie (Samantha Morton) who is just exactly the kind of woman he likes: mute and waiting on him and foot. Like most things in his life he doesn't know what a gift he has and can't forgive himself when he gives it up.Morton has the tougher role, she has to convince us that she really loves this worthless lug but has to do it without spoken word. Her face is sweet, expressive and we almost always know what she is thinking.Emmett has one pall over his life. He has a phobia about meeting Django Reinhart, legendary for being 'The Greatest Jazz Guitarist in the World'. Emmett does eventually run into Reinhart providing one of the movie's funniest moments.Emmett would be almost impossible to take in this film were he not played by Sean Penn. Penn is a brilliant actor who knows how to disappear into a role and make us care about the character. Here he has the tough task of making us care about someone who is a complete jerk. He makes Emmett Ray into a lovable guy even when we know we aren't suppose to like him.That is also based on the strength of Woody Allen's writing. He has written a fiction chapter of jazz history about a man out of touch with everything but his music.

TheLittleSongbird Celebrity to me wasn't a terrible film but it was disappointing and I consider it one of Woody Allen's weakest. Sweet and Lowdown however was a big return to form, let down only by the odd bit of lagging pacing, and is not just one of Allen's better films since Husbands and Wives but also in the better half of his filmography. Allen's films- apart from some of his very early stuff- are always very well made, but the handsome production design and colourful cinematography make Sweet and Lowdown a gorgeous-looking film, and Allen's directing also is nigh-on perfect. The haunting and mellow soundtrack is one of my personal favourites actually from his films and CD-release-worthy. Sweet and Lowdown also has a great and beautifully balanced script, some of it is charmingly witty in typical Allen style, but it also has a lot to say and does so in a way that intrigues and doesn't come across as self-indulgent and the dramatic scenes are among the, in my opinion, most poignant and sensitively done of any Woody Allen film since Husbands and Wives. Allen's mock-documentary contributions are fascinating and you learn a good deal about the music, artistry and Emmet Ray(which Allen delivers in a way that strongly suggests how he connected with the subject matter and what was being said), and the story itself has the ideal balance of comedy and drama, reflected in Samantha Morton's character Hattie, and has an immense charm to it. The characters, although a few of them are on the thankless side(ie. Ellie), are not likable- Hattie is an exception though, because she's the character that you relate to the most by quite some distance- but are written with realism, the relationships between them are identifiable and acted with every bit as much. Sean Penn gives a bravura performance and really embodies Emmet Ray, although Ray is as purposefully dislikeable as you can possibly get there's genuine sympathy to be had from him in his final scenes. Samantha Morton is even better and I'd go as far to say that she steals the show, she's really heart-breaking, has eyes and facial expressions that are really expressive and even when silent her eyes and face tell volumes. Uma Thurman is not used very much but she has a quite colourful character and she relishes it without being at odds with the rest of the film. All in all, after being disappointed by Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown was a big improvement and is a wonderful film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

namashi_1 Mr.Cinema aka Woody Allen, Emerges a WINNER yet again with his 1999 Cinematic Delight 'Sweet and Lowdown'. A Highly Entertaining & Hilarious Film, that also packs in tremendous performances.'Sweet and Lowdown' Synopsis: In the 1930s, fictional jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute.'Sweet and Lowdown' explores Emmet Ray's Journey, beautifully. Its Funny & Very Entertaining. Allen's Writing & Direction, both, are Delightful. The Master Storyteller Emergers a Winner yet again with 'Sweet and Lowdown'. Cinematography is good. Editing & Art Design, are perfect.Performance-Wise: Sean Penn is Tremendous as Emmet Ray. Like Always, The Legendary Actor gives his all & shines from start to end. Samantha Morton is fantastic. She delivers a career best performance in here. Uma Thurman is fluffy in a cameo, while Anthony LaPaglia is impressive.On the whole, 'Sweet and Lowdown' is a must see. Woody Allen is Mr.Cinema! The One & Only!

runamokprods Sweet, gentle, sad, with amazing performances by Sean Penn and Samantha Morton. Interestingly, this got mixed reviews on release for being 'small' in scope, but to me that's its great strength. As screwed up as the Sean Penn character is, we still get pulled into him, and it makes for a lovely portrait of a sad, lost, brilliant jazz guitarist. Penn and Allen conspire to create one of the most simultaneously infuriating and oddly ingratiating characters of recent memoryNo big conclusions or statements, just a subtle, brilliantly acted comic and tragic study of humanity. That's enough make this the strongest Woody Allen film for a number of years.