Review of Sweet and Lowdown (1999) by Troy D — 14 Jun 2007

While watching and shortly after this film I thought it wasn't that good, but now as I think about Sweet and Lowdown and look back on it, Sweet and Lowdown is actually a smart film. Smart in the way it was pieced together, the life story of Ray, and Samantha Morton's performance as Hattie.

Sweet and Lowdown follows Emmet Ray, one of the greastest jazz guitarist during the 20s and 30s. Sean Penn is wondferul as the musically talented and gifted, but drinking, gambling, ladies man and drug user Emmet Ray.

What I didn't like about the film and still don't is the fact that Woody Allen has to appear, among others, to give their opinions on Ray, as if in an interview. All of a sudden in the middle of the film we have a talking head documentary style film.

For me this interrupted the flow of the film, which would build quite nicely and then dramatically get shut down when Woody Allen's head would appear giving his opinion on what Ray was doing. Also when Uma Thurman's character Blanche shows up she starts narrating.

This is fine but should have been for the whole film. It would have been more effective. Blanche is only in about a third of the movie and her all of a sudden narration seems out of place. The best part of the film is when Ray spys on Blanche after they break up.

He slips in the back of her car to listen in on her conversation with her new boyfriend and Emmet Ray ends up in an interesting situation. Played out in three different scenarios.