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Sweet and Lowdown
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767847544
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767847547
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 MonoFrench (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 MonoEnglish (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 20, 2000
Running Time: 95 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
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Editorial Review:
Woody Allen makes beautiful music but only fitful comedy with his story of "the second greatest guitar player in the world." Sean Penn plays Emmett Ray, an irresponsible, womanizing swing guitar player in Depression-era America who is guided by an ego almost as large as his talent. "I'm an artist, a truly great artist," he proclaims time and time again, and when he plays, soaring into a blissed-out world of pure melodic beauty, he proves it. Samantha Morton almost steals the film as his mute girlfriend Hattie, a sweet Chaplinesque waif who loves him unconditionally, and Uma Thurman brings haughty moxie to her role as a slumming socialite and aspiring writer who's forever analyzing Emmett's peculiarities (like taking his dates to shoot rats at the city dump). The vignettelike tales are interspersed with comments by jazz aficionados and critics, but this is less a Zelig-like mockumentary than an extension of the self-absorbed portraits of Deconstructing Harry and Celebrity. The lazy pace drags at times and the script runs dry between comic centerpieces--the film screams for more of Allen's playful invention--but there's a bittersweet tenderness and an affecting vulnerability that is missing from his other recent work. Shot by Zhao Fei (The Emperor and the Assassin, Raise the Red Lantern), it's one of Allen's most gorgeous and colorful films in years, buoyed by toe-tapping music and Penn's gruffly charming performance. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Emmet Ray: Wanna go to the dump and shoot some rats?
Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999), a fictional biopic about "the world's second best jazz guitarist," Emmet Ray is sweet, funny, dramatic, filled with fantastic music and is simply terrific. "Sweet and Lowdown" reminds "Bullets over Broadway" (1994), another Allen's period movie set in the nostalgic area of great jazz and gangsters who understood and supported art and the artists, at least to the certain points. Sean Penn gave IMO his best performance as the man as talented as he was egotistic ... Read More
Rating: - The Beginning of a Tsunami
It may be Woody Allen's second best film, next to Annie Hall and is at least partly responsible for a popular resurgence of interest in the legendary Romany guitar virtuoso, Django Reinhardt. Enough has been written about the film's wonderful cinematography, fine performances by Sean Penn and Samantha Morton and Mr. Allen's brilliant direction. Here I would like to emphasize the real star of the film: the music, as arranged and played by Howard Alden, one of the great new-generation jazz guitarists ... Read More
Rating:  - Masterful
Sweet and Lowdown is a masterful film, only let down slightly by sagging in one or two places. Like most of Woody Allen's films, it is rich in comedy, albeit more subtle than some of his earlier efforts. It tells the story of Emmet Ray, the world's second best jazz guitarist in a fictional documentary style, with asides from Allen and others who comment on the protagonist's life. Jazz is one of Allen's consuming passions (as most people know, he is an accomplished clarinet player himself) and partially due ... Read More
Rating: - is that all i can give it-5 stars?
Samantha Morton is so good in this you'll cry.
you'll laugh too so how can you beat that?
Sean Penn gives a fantastic portrayal of the worlds'
2nd best guitarist who also happens to be a jerk.
Uma Thurman is great as a writer exploring every
possible motive into human behavior.
Woody and several other talking heads give
periodical narration throughout the movie.
I saw this movie when it came out and was struck
what an excellent story it was with such ... Read More
Rating:  - Maybe I'm blind but I just don't see it...
I just want to say that I really, really wanted to like this movie...I just couldn't bring myself to. It came on IFC the other night and since I've been on this Independent Film kick lately, that and it starred Penn, Morton and Thurman, I decided to give it a watch through. I had heard good things about it, mostly about Morton's performance as well as Penn, so I can honestly say I had high expectations. Those expectations, sadly, were not met.
First of all I want to say that Penn's performance ... Read More
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