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SWEET AND LOWDOWN Send This Review to a Friend
Writer-director Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown," a hit when it was unveiled at the 1999 Toronto International Film festival, is an entertaining mock documentary about a guitar player, a figment of Allen's imagination. The musician, named Emmet Ray, has skills second only to the legendary Django Reinhardt, whom he idolizes. By the time the film is over it seems as if Emmet Ray really exists, thanks not only to Allen's directorial prowess but to the dynamic, slick and amusing performance by a mustached Sean Penn as the guitarist.
Ray is depicted as a supreme egotist, who likes women but doesn't think he needs them and therefore can easily hurt them. Penn has the character nailed down perfectly. Professionally, he's funny in his quest for perfection that's undone by his conceit. Personally, his life is a mess.
Allen is brazen enough to place Ray in a relationship with a mute young woman, played by Samantha Morton in an endearing performance that can steal your heart much the way Giulietta Masina did in Fellini's "La Strada." There is also a major, contrasting performance by Uma Thurman as a sexy, more sophisticated type who is puzzled by the perplexing Ray. His idea of a fun time is to go down to the dump and shoot rats.
Allen narrates part of the film to give it a documentary flavor, enhanced by others who play themselves. "Sweet and Lowdown" is rich in 1930s period atmosphere, costuming and as you would expect, perfect scoring. Allen is as deft as usual in creating hilarious situations, yet he maintains a mood of faux nostalgia. The ingredients of character, atmosphere and music are meshed smoothly in what is one of Allen's superior achievements. Special recognition is due musical arranger and conductor Dick Hyman, production designer Santo Loquasto, costume designer Laura Cunningham Bauer and director of photography Zhao Fei.
The film is easygoing--some might say slight--but its expertise is wonderful to experience. Mark it down as yet another example of Allen's creativity and penchant for trying something different. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
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