Like the guitarist in the movie, this is always second best, at best

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2009)

Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Besides the funny idea of creating a musician who never existed and having talking heads of real experts to support the idea (done better in Zelig and, more parallel, The Rutles), there is very little happening there to keep the movie going. There are a few funny lines, for sure, but many more that are either reused Allen quips or just flat comebacks.
At first Sean Penn seems perfect for his role, and he fortunately plays his part no imitating Allen. But either he has so little to work with or he plays this guitarist so superficially, it never takes off, we never feel for him or his situation. The fact that he "fades away" at the end of his career is something like the whole movie, which didn't quite form in the first place. Funny and clever the way Scoop is funny and clever--not too much.
Samantha Morton puts in a great performance as a mute woman. And the music, a la Django, is unassailable.