Review of Sweet and Lowdown (1999) by Leslie C — 24 Mar 2008
This is one of my favorite Woody Allen films and maybe my favorite Sean Penn performance. The story involves a ficitonalized biography of Emmet Ray, the self declared 2nd best guitar player in the world.
The re-creation of the era is fantastic and the music is wonderful. I like how the movie balances a dream like, notalgia for the era with a realistic sense of the times. Sean Penn's performance is simply terrific, his speech patterns, mannerisms, and aura are carefully thought through and represent the character perfectly.
Also giving a great performance is Samantha Morton as a mute girl who creates a highly unlikely relationship with Emmet. Their interactions are akward, sweet, and very funny. The movie has a very episodic feel which works for the film in the first half but then skips around maybe a little bit too much in the last half.
Still this is probably the best film Allen made in the 90's and like Radio Days and Broadway Danny Rose, has a real affection for a distinct era of American entertainment.
This review of Sweet and Lowdown (1999) was written by Leslie C on 24 Mar 2008.
Sweet and Lowdown has generally received positive reviews.
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