Sweet and Lowdown

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2017)

If I maintained a "bucket list", near the top of that list one would see "Cafe Carlyle, Monday night, 8:45". Perhaps the only thing more consistent in Woody Allen's life than his film production schedule is his clarinet playing. Woody played clarinet in a jazz band for 25 years before the venue closed, but that didn't stop Woody. He now plays where he has played for over a decade at the Carlyle Hotel with Woody Allen & the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band. A fan of jazz since he was a teenager, which has shown in all of his films, I would love to see Woody Allen play clarinet in person. Perhaps the film in which Woody most clearly illustrates his love for jazz is in his 1999 feature, Sweet and Lowdown. The film brings back to life the 1930's through a guitarist Emmet Ray, who worships a better- known guitarist Django Reinhardt. Sean Penn brings to life the quirky self-sabotaging Ray with an unbelievable jazz soundtrack accompanying the film. In a beautifully raw tale of love and regret, Sweet and Lowdown is an entry of Woody Allen's filmography not to be missed.
Emmet Ray (Sean Penn), the free-spirited, arrogant, alcoholic is also one of the best guitarists of his time. Despite his talent, he is thoroughly obsessed with the French gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt. Emmet only allows himself to idolize Django from afar, as he has a morbid fear of actually meeting the musician. Relayed through a mockumentary, a format Woody Allen had previously successfully explored, the audience hears from many people who knew Emmet Ray. It is revealed that Emmet Ray is largely unknown today because he refused to make too many recordings for fear that someone would copy his style. A colorful person with an unknown past has made Emmet an interesting character study. Emmet didn't care for others too much, living life as a womanizer and using prostitutes to fund his lifestyle. A complete eccentric, Emmet Ray was as unreliable in his music career as he was his personal life. Even finding true love wasn't enough to push Emmet beyond himself to deeply care about anyone else. Deciding to keep his focus on him alone, Emmet breaks up with Hattie (Samantha Morton), his one true love because he realizes himself to be incapable of returning the loyalty she gives to him. When he finally realizes his mistake, it is too late to get Hattie back and may be too late for Emmet to truly achieve happiness.
Sweet and Lowdown, set in the heart of the jazz golden age in the 1930's, was filled with incredible period detail, maybe the best in a Woody Allen film up to that time. The film opens in a wonderful way with monologues of those that knew Emmet, making it clear that Woody Allen has dipped into the mockumentary style once again. The mockumentary is a sub-genre Woody Allen executes well, so seeing another from him was a treat. It probably goes without saying, but here I am to waste lines with it anyway, the score in Sweet and Lowdown is pitch perfect. The amazing jazz punctuating the plight of a devoted musician bring the emotion in Sweet and Lowdown to a fever pitch. The color used in Sweet and Lowdown was sensational bringing to life the heavy regret and emotional despair Emmet brought upon himself. Woody Allen perfectly explores someone who self-sabotages their relationships and must live with the regret of pushing away their one true love.