Talented jerk

Rating: Null/10 (24 January 2001)

Some stories are about nice guys without an ounce of talent. `Sweet and Lowdown' is about a jerk with lots of talent, the fictional Emmet Ray (Sean Penn in an Oscar-nominated performance), the second best jazz guitarist in the world during the 1930s.
Another character in the film describes Ray perfectly: `Not only are you vain and egotistical, but you have genuine crudeness.' Ray is obsessed and intimated by the world's greatest guitarist, Django Reinhardt. The thing is, whenever Ray's path crosses with Django's Emmet faints.
`Sweet and Lowdown' gives Allen an opportunity to display his love for jazz, and the film is similar to `Broadway Danny Rose' in that it is told in anecdotes by jazz experts and fans (the final anecdote is told in three different ways, although it's tellers indicate that they're not sure that they're relating anything more than a myth).
Allen boldly makes the Ray one of his least likeable characters. Ray has the possibility of a meaningful relationship with a mute (Samantha Morton in another Oscar-nominated performance), but he dumps her when the idea of commitment creeps into their conversation.
The only false note about the film is that it makes the the case that Ray is passionate about is his music, but he looks anything but passionate when he plays--mellow would be a better description.
This is a good film, but not in the class with some of Allen's classics such as `Annie Hall' and `Hannah and Her Sisters.'