Rent Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
3.6 of 5 from 108 ratings
1h 31min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Bragging to everyone who will listen that he is the world's second greatest jazz player, Emmet Ray (Sean Penn) is cocky, abrasive and brutally honest - standing only in the shadow of his hero - the profoundly passionate musician Django Reinhardt. Things change when Emmet falls in love with the enchanting mute laundress Hattie (Samantha Morton), who manages to capture his heart through her eyes and expressions alone.
- Actors:
- Sean Penn, Samantha Morton, Woody Allen, Ben Duncan, Daniel Okrent, Dan Moran, Tony Darrow, Chris Bauer, Constance Shulman, Kellie Overbey, Darryl Alan Reed, Marc Damon Johnson, Ron Cephas Jones, Steve Bargonetti, Benjamin Franklin Brown, James Urbaniak, Vince Giordano, Emme Kemp, Clark Gayton, Marcus McLaurine
- Directors:
- Woody Allen
- Producers:
- Jean Doumanian
- Writers:
- Woody Allen
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Comedy, Drama, Music & Musicals
- Collections:
- Acting Up: British Actresses at the Oscars, Award Winners, Oscar's Two-Time Club, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1999
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Reviews (1) of Sweet and Lowdown
Classic Woody. - Sweet and Lowdown review by Steve
My pick for the best Woody Allen film from his later period. It's a fake documentary about a self destructive and egotistical shack-reared jazz guitarist (Sean Penn) who was briefly famous during the depression. He feels constantly frustrated because he is only the second best on his instrument in the world, after his hero, Django Reinhardt.
He falls in with a mute, working class innocent (Samantha Morton) and then a slumming rich girl (Uma Thurman) thinking of turning the musician's demons into a novel. We follow him from east to west coast, with his legacy discussed by a number of talking head jazz critics. Including Woody.
Penn pulls off a small miracle keeping the mean and self-obsessed prodigy just the right side of sympathetic. The heart of the film though is Morton, whose silent rendition as the simple girl who suffers for her unconditional love is sensational. Thematically, this is a lot like Broadway Danny Rose.
The period atmosphere is convincing, the script is exceptional and the jazz guitar music excellent (Penn mimes pretty well). But it's Morton's film all the way and her overwhelming, incorruptible dignity and decency breaks your heart. It's among the greatest silent performance I've ever seen.
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