Rating: 
Summary: Woody Allen looks at an artist and his ego. A fine movie.
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: The day after seeing it, it really struck a chord
Review: While watching this movie I was simply charmed by the music and carried along by the events. It wasn't until the next day when I was talking with my wife about why I feel our relationship is so great that it suddenly struck me what the whole point of the movie had been. It was that last scene where Emmet smashes his guitar that the point was brought to the fore. I fell in love with Hattie (Samantha Morton gave an endearing and artistic performance). I didn't realize that Emmet was missing the boat. Hattie may have been mute and dumb but she was the best thing that ever happened to Emmet. There was that je-ne-sais-quoi between them which makes all the difference in the world; life isn't worth a hill of beans without it. That is what this movie said to me. And I thought Woody Allen did a fantastic job by writing this story in order to illustrate this point. From that vantage point all the incidents in the story fell into place as building up to this point. Yes, life can truly pass us by if we don't watch out. We grope around following our urges not knowing quite what it is we are looking for and if we happen to come across it, we'd better grab hold of it and never let it go. Once I realized this about this movie, my admiration for Woody Allen soared to new heights, not to mention that Sean Penn did a superb job as did Samanta Morton. It's not your S/O's this or that characteristic, it's the je-ne-sais-quoi between the two of you. I can't think of another movie which made this all-important point.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the heart?
Review: Sweet and Lowdown has the potential to be a heart-wrenching movie about love, money, understanding, jazz, and the free spirit. In fact, all of the cards are on the table with this one. But the movie just doesn't have heart like it should. What could have been a great movie quickly dissolves into a fair movie.
Emmett Ray, played by Sean Penn, is a jazz guitarist who idolizes Django Reihnhardt but let's his envy always get the better of him. No matter how often he plays out, no matter how fancy his clothes are, no matter how well he plays a gig, no matter which girls he impresses, Ray never evolves into the musician that he wants to be. His two wives, Hattie and Blanch, make small impacts in his character, attempting to remove his macho facade. But it isn't until it's too late that Ray realized that he needed to let go of his emotions to make the music he wanted to make.
This movie could have been on par with The Purple Rose of Cairo or Radio Days in the historical fiction vein. But the human touch was not there. It was not there in the opening scenes, and it wasn't there for the bulk of the movie.
I don't know what the missing element is, because everything is in its right place for Sweet and Lowdown. It just didn't come together like it should have
But get the soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie by Federico Fellini
Review: Most of this film is a rip off of Federico Fellini's "La Strada."The stuff that isn't ripped off from "La Strada" is probably ripped off from another film. Woody Allen is the biggest ass in Hollywood. I still give this movie 4 stars despite all that.
Rating:
Summary: Funny,An Exceptional Film
Review: Academy Award Winner Sean Penn(Best Actor,Mystic River),Academy Award Nominee Samantha Morton(Best Actress,In America),and
Academy Award Nominee Uma Thurman(Best Supporting Actress
"Pulp Fiction")star in this wonderful film.Sean Penn recieved his
second oscar nomination for this film,while Morton recieved her first nomination.Years later Penn would be up for best actor for
Mystic River while meanwhile Morton was up for best actress for In America.It's amazing to me though that Samantha Morton doesn't have a single line in the movie and she still got an Oscar nomination.Penn stars as Emmet Ray "the second best guitar player in the world" seconded by only Django Reinhardt. Emmet
is a man who lives solely to play jazz music and have sex with women.Emmet isn't neccessarily a ladies man because his idea of a date is taking a woman to the dump to shoot rats or go watch trains. Now he finally meets his match with the mute laundress
Hattie(Morton) who loves Emmet now matter how weird he is.However when Emmet becomes scared of the long term relationship he is slowly walking into he impulsively marries the aspiring writer Blanche(Thurman).Penn is great,Morton is brilliant,Thurman is hot,Allen is...well...Allen. But all-in-all if you didn't have the frequent Woody Allen cameo it would be easy to forget you're watching an Allen movie.B-.
Rating:
Summary: Another Innovative, Thoughtful Comedy by Woody Allen
Review: Woody Allen is know for any number of things: inventive, brilliant comedies; less than popular serious films; his love of Manhattan; his love of Jazz. In Sweet and Lowdown, he combines a documentary and period filmmaking to great effect. Sean Penn expertly plays Emmett Ray, the world-second greatest guitar player during the great depression. The character is full of ego, booze, talent and humor and it's pulled off without a hitch by Penn and is supported by a solid cast. As is the case with many of Allen's films, a cerebral investment is required from the viewer - this isn't an example of Allen's earlier screwball comedy. All in all, another wonderful film from Woody Allen.
Rating:
Summary: My first Woody Allen film
Review: This is the first Allen film I have seen to the end. Needless to say, I am not a fan, but the music and Sean Penn carried me away. The music is worth the price of a ticket or DVD. Reinhardt, if you are not familiar with his music , get somewhere and buy sime soon!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Tragedy of Being Second-Best
Review: 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.
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.
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