Entertaining and Funny

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2000)

What a character this guy "Emmet Ray" was - at least Woody Allen's direction and Sean Penn's acting make him seem like a real nutball. Throughout the movie he's telling everybody he's the second greatest guitar player in the world. He drinks constantly, he womanizes, and the only places he wants to take his female friends to are the dump to shoot rats, and the railroad tracks to watch the trains. Plus, he has this mad obsession with Django Reinhardt, whom he considers to be the only guitarist who can out-play him. He cries whenever he hears him play, he talks about him, he idolizes him - but whenever he meets him in person, he becomes deathly afraid and faints. Allen's fascination with Emmet Ray rubs off on you, and Sean Penn gets so into the character you can't help but come to like him, and even feel sorry for him as he rides his bumpy roller coaster of a life filled with arrogance and self-indulgence. Ultimately of course he has to face the music, and this is where Penn really shines. As the years go by, I become more and more convinced that Sean Penn is one of the most underrated actors around. This movie really showcases his raw talent though. A note about the actress who plays one of Ray's girlfriends - Samantha Morton. Since she plays a mute she never utters word throughout the whole movie - but she's really something. In her silence she conveys so much emotion. You almost want her character to miraculously learn to speak just so Morton can further showcase her talent. I'm sure she'll get plenty of opportunities for that in the future though.