Main Cast: Sean Penn, Samantha Morton, Uma Thurman, Brian Markinson, Anthony LaPaglia, Woody Allen
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Woody Allen immerses himself in the world of vintage jazz in this period mock-biography of a musician gifted in his art but a sad student in life. Emmet Ray (Sean Penn) is a 1930s jazz guitarist considered one of the finest musicians ever to touch a fretboard, second only to the legendary Django Reinhardt. For all the passion and sensitivity of his music, Emmet is a louse off-stage; he earned his living as a pimp before gaining fame, and he throws his money away on flashy clothes and big cars, going through women like guitar picks. He also has another charming hobby: shooting rats at the city dump. But when Emmet meets Hattie (Samantha Morton), a shy, mute woman who earns her living doing laundry, he discovers that she loves his music, and he promptly falls for her. However, his inability to be faithful, his arrogant conviction that a musician should never marry, and his belief that he can do better than Hattie eventually doom their relationship. Emmet later marries Blanche (Uma Thurman), a beautiful and refined woman with a career as an author, but she is no more interested in fidelity than he is, and in time he realizes how foolish he was to give up Hattie. Jazz guitarist Howard Alden plays Emmet's solos on the soundtrack, while several authorities on jazz discuss "Emmet's" music, including Nat Hentoff, Douglas McGrath, and one Woody Allen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The product of Woody Allen's lifelong love of jazz, Sweet and Lowdown is as much a continued exploration of the relationship between an artist's private life and his or her professional career -- foregrounded elsewhere in Deconstructing Harry and Celebrity -- as about the music itself. And it doesn't benefit all that much from the extra baggage. The period detail, Sean Penn's tragi-comic characterization, Allen's wickedly funny employment of jazz biography cliches and, of course, fine music all work in its favor. But the central dilemma -- how could such a reprehensible man make such wonderful music? -- remains overstated and overly obvious, even with an abundance of real-life corollaries. (Penn's character, animal cruelty and all, would still make for a preferable dining companion to Miles Davis.) The idealization of Samantha Morton's character, a sainted mute submissive to Penn's neglect, has its creepy undertones as well, offset by Morton's impressive performance, a superb pantomime that lends her character a depth it couldn't have had on the page. A measured success, Sweet and Lowdown's command of its corner of music history, more than its command of its story and characters, suggests that Allen would benefit from a return to the world explored here. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
Gretchen Mol - Ellie; Vincent Guastaferro - Sid Bishop; John Waters - Mr. Haynes; Constance Schulman - Hazel; Kellie Overbey - Iris; James Urbaniak - Harry; Mark Damon Johnson - Omer; Darryl Alan Reed - Don; Rick Monday - Chester Weems; Brad Garrett - Joe Bedloe; Douglas McGrath - Himself
Credit
Tom Warren - Art Director, Juliet Taylor - Casting, Laura Rosenthal - Casting, Richard Brick - Co-producer, Laura Cunningham-Bauer - Costume Designer, Richard Patrick - First Assistant Director, Woody Allen - Director, Alisa Lepselter - Editor, Charles H. Joffe - Executive Producer, Jack Rollins - Executive Producer, Letty Aronson - Executive Producer, J.E. Beaucaire - Executive Producer, Dick Hyman - Composer (Music Score), Santo Loquasto - Production Designer, Zhao Fei - Cinematographer, Jean Doumanian - Producer, Les Lazarowitz - Sound/Sound Designer, Woody Allen - Screenwriter
Looking back, it was probably only a matter of time before filmmaker Woody Allen decided to combine his professional career and his favorite hobby. In 1999 he did just that with Sweet and Lowdown, a mockumentary about a fictional jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray that gave Allen an excuse to delve into the cheerful '30s jazz with which he spends much of his free time as clarinetist for a Manhattan band. The 14 classic songs on the soundtrack, arranged and conducted by Allen's longtime musical collaborator, Dick Hyman, are as breezy and amiable as the film itself. Tunes like "I'll See You in My Dreams" and "Caravan" have a charm that's hard to resist, particularly as performed by the competent Dick Hyman Group and the obviously skilled lead guitarist Howard Alden, who provides the solos that actor Sean Penn mimes on camera as Emmet Ray. But if the soundtrack shares the movie's strengths (its buoyancy and sunny charm), it also shares some of its shortcomings. Allen seems to get skittish when it comes to delving below the brassy surface of his emotionally guarded subject. The superb Penn comes close to selling Ray as a three-dimensional character, but he always seems constrained by the clumsiness of the writing. The few glimpses we get of Ray's underlying pain and vulnerability usually end up coming off as contrived. Similarly, Hyman's indefatigably perky jazz is strong on fun but weak on soul. Alden has the daunting task of providing the music for a fictional guitarist who, we are told, has the technical proficiency to be the best in the world if only his playing demonstrated more depth of feeling. It's something of a mixed compliment to say that Alden accomplishes this assignment to the letter. Both the film and the soundtrack could stand to be a little more Sweet and Lowdown and a little less Sweet and Low. ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide
Woody Allen (Director), Howard Alden (Guitar), Bunny Berigan (Performer), Dick Hyman (Piano), Dick Hyman (Arranger), Dick Hyman (Conductor), Dick Hyman (Recording Producer), Ken Peplowski (Clarinet), Bucky Pizzarelli (Guitar), Sidney Bechet (Performer), Joel Helleny (Trombone), Walter Levinsky (Recording Supervision), Carmel Malin (Music Coordinator), Todd Sommer (Drums), Byron Stripling (Trumpet), Carol Woods (Vocals), Adam Schlesinger (Associate Producer), Mark Fraunfelder (Assistant Engineer), Roy Yokelson (Engineer), Roy Yokelson (Editing), Roy Yokelson (Mastering), Roy Yokelson (Mixing), Roy Yokelson (Recording Producer), Paul Cremo (Executive Producer), Jean Doumanian (Executive Producer), Kelly Friesen (Bass), Alden Howard (Performer), Dick Hyman Group (Performer)
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 film written and directed by Woody Allen which tells the story of a (fictional) arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazzguitarist named Emmett Ray (played by Sean Penn) who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt. The film also stars Uma Thurman, Anthony LaPaglia, and Samantha Morton as Hattie, a lovable young mute girl. Allen appears briefly as himself, being interviewed about Ray's music. The film, loosely based on Federico Fellini's film La strada,[citation needed] was one of Allen's most well-received dramatic films.[1]
Hot off his 1969 directing debut Take the Money and Run, Allen signed a contract to direct a series of films with United Artists. Told to "write what you want to write," Allen wrote The Jazz Baby, a dramatic screenplay about a jazz musician set in the thirties. Allen said later that the United Artists executives were "stunned....because they had expected a comedy. [They] were very worried and told me, 'We realize that we signed a contract with you and you can do anything you want. But we want to tell you that we really don't like this.'"[2] Allen went along with United Artists, writing and directing Bananas instead. In 1995, he dismissed The Jazz Baby as having been "probably too ambitious."[2]
In 1998, Allen returned to the project, rewriting the script and dubbing it Sweet and Lowdown. In the role of Emmet Ray, a jazz guitarist whom Allen had originally planned to play himself, the director cast Sean Penn. (Allen also considered Johnny Depp, but the actor was busy at the time.)[3] Though Allen was initially wary of working with Penn, having heard that he was difficult, he later said that "I had no problem with him whatsoever....He gave it his all and took direction and made contributions himself... a tremendous actor."[3]
Allen's use of Penn (and Morton) paid off when Sweet and Lowdown was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Samantha Morton). Morton's nomination was especially notable, considering the fact that she does not utter a single word of dialogue in the film. Allen has said that he told Morton to "play the part like Harpo Marx. And she said, 'Who is Harpo Marx?' and I realized how young she was. Then I told her about him [and] she went back and saw the films."[3] In addition to her Oscar nomination, Morton's performance was met with critical acclaim, with Salon.com critic Stephanie Zacharek saying that she "quietly explodes [the movie]....Her performance is like nothing I've seen in recent years."[1]
Sweet and Lowdown was filmed entirely in New York but set in the Chicago area and California.[3]
The film was the first of Allen's that was edited by Alisa Lepselter, who has edited all of Allen's films since. Lepselter was succeeding Susan E. Morse, who had edited Allen's films for the previous twenty years.
Music
The music for the film was arranged and conducted by Dick Hyman. All of the guitar solos are played by guitarist Howard Alden. Alden also coached Sean Penn on playing the guitar for his role in the film.
