SWEET AND LOWDOWN

LOOK, I’M WOODY. HOWDY, HOWDY, HOWDY.

Starring Sean Penn

TRAILER

M

Right, love then. It’s all you need. The secret to Allen’s best work seems to be focus and love for the subject matter, and since he seems to hate the world with 95% of his molecules it’s difficult to find something to invest in. Luckily the other 5% is an adoration for women and jazz guitar, and that’s what makes Sweet and Lowdown function as a compelling film, that and the sterling work of Sean Penn and Samantha Morton. She’s amazing. She’s the heart and soul of the film. And she’s completely silent. Penn plays jazz guitarist Emmett Ray as a man in thrall to his own skill and talent, drawing on his real-life ego to incredible effect; it’s amazing to think Allen nearly played the role himself, choosing instead to bolster his credibility with an actor who knows what he’s doing. Luckily Woody confines his own appearances to talking heads, a group of jazz aficionados waxing lyrical on the merits of Ray’s temper and technique, whilst the rest of the film plays out as a more tightly focused essay on talent and artistry akin to his later work with Vicky Christina Barcelona. In fact, it’s all so convincing and well put together that it’s almost… oh. Oh wait, this is clever. Search Wikipedia for Emmett Ray. Whoops. Nice job, great film, but very specialist. So… MAYBE.