Both Sean Penn and Samantha Morton were Oscar nominated for Sweet and Lowdown. Allen's films have had a lot of Oscar nods over the decades and this time it was purely for the actors, not for the screenplay. Wonder if that means something.
This movie comes from Woody's Fallow Period, my name for the dead zone at the turn of the millennium when it started to look like he was washed-up. But it's not really of the period because this screenplay came out of the drawer. Allen wrote it decades earlier and intended to play the part of Emmet himself. I wonder if he could have managed the emotions displayed by this volatile, vain virtuoso. Allen is a musician himself but despite touring his preferred New Orleans Jazz around Europe he's never achieved greatness on his instrument, the clarinet. See documentary Wild Man Blues (1997) to get a flavour.
Morton is enchanting in a silent role, playing the mute woman enchanted by Emmet's guitar wizardry. Penn does a fine job projecting the artist's skills and egotism, as well as his disappointment and folly. Documentary style interview segments in which talking heads tell more of the mythical (fictional) Emmet Ray help, I suppose, to keep us sympathetic towards a man who often acts like a jerk.
Whether or not you love this film, and I don't know anyone who does, may depend on whether you love Jazz guitar of the era. I don't so this movie never captivates me. It has, in fact, some of the characteristics of Woody's more recent, costume comedies (Magic in the Moonlight, for example), in that it looks good, is well acted, but the story just isn't quite interesting enough. It's a little bit meh.
Worth a look but maybe only the one.
This movie comes from Woody's Fallow Period, my name for the dead zone at the turn of the millennium when it started to look like he was washed-up. But it's not really of the period because this screenplay came out of the drawer. Allen wrote it decades earlier and intended to play the part of Emmet himself. I wonder if he could have managed the emotions displayed by this volatile, vain virtuoso. Allen is a musician himself but despite touring his preferred New Orleans Jazz around Europe he's never achieved greatness on his instrument, the clarinet. See documentary Wild Man Blues (1997) to get a flavour.
Morton is enchanting in a silent role, playing the mute woman enchanted by Emmet's guitar wizardry. Penn does a fine job projecting the artist's skills and egotism, as well as his disappointment and folly. Documentary style interview segments in which talking heads tell more of the mythical (fictional) Emmet Ray help, I suppose, to keep us sympathetic towards a man who often acts like a jerk.
Whether or not you love this film, and I don't know anyone who does, may depend on whether you love Jazz guitar of the era. I don't so this movie never captivates me. It has, in fact, some of the characteristics of Woody's more recent, costume comedies (Magic in the Moonlight, for example), in that it looks good, is well acted, but the story just isn't quite interesting enough. It's a little bit meh.
Worth a look but maybe only the one.