Sweet and Lowdown
- For the 1944 Benny Goodman film, see Sweet and Low-Down. For the Dave Van Ronk album, see Sweet & Lowdown.
| Sweet and Lowdown | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Jean Doumanian |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | Sean Penn Samantha Morton Anthony LaPaglia Uma Thurman |
| Cinematography | Zhao Fei |
| Editing by | Alisa Lepselter |
| Studio | Sweetland Films |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
| Release date(s) | September 4, 1999 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4,197,015 |
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen which tells the story, set in the 1930s, of a fictional jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn) who regards himself as the greatest guitarist in the world, or second greatest, after his idol, Django Reinhardt. The film also stars Uma Thurman, Anthony LaPaglia, and Samantha Morton as Hattie, a young mute woman who Emmet becomes involved with. 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 best-received dramatic films.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Sean Penn as Emmet Ray
- Samantha Morton as Hattie
- Anthony LaPaglia as Al Torrio
- Uma Thurman as Blanche
- James Urbaniak as Henry
- John Waters as Mr. Haynes
- Gretchen Mol as Ellie
- Denis O'Hare as Jake
- Molly Price as Ann
- Brian Markinson as Bill Shields
- Tony Darrow as Ben
- Daniel Okrent as A.J. Pickman
- Brad Garrett as Joe Bedloe
- Woody Allen as Himself
- Ben Duncan as Himself
- Nat Hentoff as Himself
- Douglas McGrath as Himself
[edit] Production
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] In regards to working with Sean Penn, who had a reputation for being difficult to work with, Allen later said, "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 film]... Her performance is like nothing I've seen in recent years."[1]
Sweet and Lowdown was filmed entirely in New York and New Jersey[4] 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.
[edit] 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.
Additional rhythm guitarists: Bucky Pizzarelli and James Chirillo — Chirillo played rhythm guitar on the Sweet Georgia Brown track — where the crescent moon cable breaks while Sean Penn is riding it. Pizzarelli did all other rhythm tracks.
[edit] Reception
Sweet and Lowdown received generally positive reviews; it currently holds a 78% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Critics praise Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown for its charming, light-hearted comedy and quality acting."[1] The film carries a 70 on Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Sweet and Lowdown at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ a b Bjorkman, Stig, ed. Woody Allen on Woody Allen: Revised Edition. London: Faber and Faber, 1995, 2004. p. 36-7.
- ^ a b c d Bjorkman, Stig, ed. Woody Allen on Woody Allen: Revised Edition. London: Faber and Faber, 1995, 2004. p. 347-56.
- ^ Davis, Tom. A Place For Troops, Troupes, Hoops: Teaneck Armory Still Vital, copy of article from The Record (Bergen County), January 2, 2002. Accessed June 6, 2007.
- ^ Sweet and Lowdown at Metacritic
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sweet and Lowdown |
- Sweet and Lowdown at the Internet Movie Database
- Sweet and Lowdown at AllRovi
- Sweet and Lowdown at Box Office Mojo
- Sweet and Lowdown at Rotten Tomatoes
- Sweet and Lowdown at Metacritic
