Rating: 
Summary: A labour of love of music, cinema, and humanity
Review: Is being a great artist licence to be a despicable human? (Though to be fair, the character played by Sean Penn is not wholly despicable. ) In any case that's one theme that lingers over this fine work. Mr Allen's love of music, of his characters, of being American, illuminates this film.
Familiar but unexpected, quirky and wry, this is a film to relish and is very much a visual, musical, cinematic delight. For an individual who allegedly hates the automobile have some of them every looked so wondrous as in this film? Worth owning.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it better when it was La Strada
Review: For those who didn't know: "Stardust Memories" was Woody's take on "8 1/2", "Celebrity" seemed to me like "La Dolce Vita" and this film seems like "La Strada." In my humble opinion, "La Strada" was one of the greatest films of all time. So, if you appreciated the sentiment in "Sweet and Lowdown," I recommnend highly its mentor: "La Strada." All in all, I prefer Woody when he's original. For instance, "Annie Hall", "Husbands and Wives," or am I missing something?
Rating: 
Summary: so great! truly a sweet surprise
Review: Sean Penn plays Emmett Ray, a jazz guitar player of the 1930s. The story is told in flashback by biograpgers in the present-day (Woody Allen among them, playing himself). Ray is irresponsible, selfish and a diva (guys can be divas!) He has many affairs (it's hard to call them relationships because he has an innate inability to relate to other people.) The most heartbreaking one is with Hattie, a mute laundress he meets on the pier with his friend. Hattie is with her friend Gracie and the two men take them about town. Even though he knows Hattie can hear -- she just can't talk --- Emmett complains loudly that he wants a 'talking girl' and 'can we trade girls'? Despite this, sweet lovable Hattie falls in love with him, and he takes to her as well -- although never all that completely. Emmett also has a fascination with trains, and one thinks this has to do with his need to constantly leave wherever he is and whomever he is with. I was really impressed by Samantha Morton's performance as Hattie -- to convey such a character with humor, grace, and dignity without ever speaking a word is world-class acting and I can't think of many actresses who could do that. She is adorable, and you just want to shake your head when you see how Emmett behaves towards her. That said, the plot is entertaining and the music is HOT. Rent this today!!!
Rating:
Summary: A recent masterpiece of oral culture in Woody Allen's movies
Review: One of the most fantastic thing about Sweet and Lowdown, apart from the brilliant performance of Sean Penn and Samantha Morton, is the representation of oral culture. Woody Allen and several important figures appear in the movie to tell the auidence directly what they think about the brillant guitar player, which leads to a variety of story versions. It makes the life Emmet Ray and the movie more vivid. Oral culture has become a significant icon in Allen's movies, such as Zelig and Broadyway Danny Rose. Allen gives us some insights on how to tell a story and its impact on the liability of the text itself. Though Samantha Morton played a difficult part in the movie as a dumb girl, her voice really comes out, which blends wonderfully with the enjoyable guitar music.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining --- and great music!
Review: Despite falling a little flat (in my opinion) as a comedy, this is still quite an entertaining film. Sean Penn gives a fine performance as the fictitious Emmet Ray, supposedly the second best jazz guitarist in the world after the amazing Django Reinhardt. (I wonder if the name might not be a takeoff on "Eddie Lang," who actually was the second best guitarist after Django in the 1930s.) The music alone makes this film worth watching --- and if you like those great old swing tunes on guitar, you're sure to love the original classics by the master Django Reinhardt himself. If you aren't already familiar with Django's music, the best place to start is with the wonderful (and skillfully digitally remastered) 5-CD box set called "The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order." Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful! and fun
Review: I hate Woody Allen. I can take some of his movies, but only the ones that aren't so obviously and directly vehicles for him to exorcise his neuroses and insecurities. That said, I LOVED this movie, and recommend it highly. The music, along with the sets and the cinematography were beautiful and idyllic depression-era Americana. Every shot was obviously well thought out, and perfect. On top of this, the story was simple, progressed at a nice pace, and had a nice bittersweet (but not quite tragic) ending. The parallels to Allen's life and career are there, but subtle enough that you have to be familiar with him, and his work in order to notice. 5 Stars!
Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: If you buy this, you won't be let down.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest acting by Penn
Review: Sean Penn's acting in this film is some of the best ever. He is remarkable. See it for this alone. He is awesome.
Samantha Morton is great as the mute. As a whole, I loved the film. I liked the documentary format. As usual Woody Allen has impeccable taste in his musical scoring.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie ruined by Woody Allen's commentary
Review:
This movie is an absolutely great character story with Samantha Morton somehow stealing the show though she doesn't have a line of dialogue. Sean Penn was great also. I was really getting into the movie when all of a sudden -
- Woody Allen jumps in and interrupts the story with totally useless commentary. He was commenting on the things the movie was showing quite well. ... Then some music expert jumps in and tells us what a great musician Emmett Ray was. Like we couldn't tell from the music he was playing throughout the movie.
So, then this great movie continues, and I start getting back into things, when Woody Allen has to jump in again and start talking at the camera. Ugghhh. What's the problem with showing the story, not telling it to us?
Finally, get back to the story. Just when things get great again, it's jerked back to Woody Allen looking confused and explaining what we just saw, or introducing another version of what might have happened.
Then, at the end, the last scene of Ray is him smashing his guitar and being angry. Jump to Woody Allen who then tells us "No one really knows what happened to him. Some say he went to Europe, some say he didn't."
This has to be the worst ending possible for a documentary. It was almost like Allen was too lazy to research his study and tell us definitively what happened to him.
Overall, if the movie hadn't been chopped up with totally useless commentary and just showed us the story of Emmett Ray, it would have been at 4.5 star movie. But the commentary wrecks the flick's flow at the worst times - usually climaxes, when you're dying to see what'll happen next, but you're pulled into a contemporary studio for observation from someone, so I can't give it more than a three.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet & Upbeat
Review: Please excuse my misspelling of Henry Alden's name in my previous review.
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