Sweet and Lowdown
Encyclopedia
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy film
written and directed by Woody Allen
which tells the story of a fictional arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazz
guitar
ist named Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn
) who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt
. The film also stars Uma Thurman
, Anthony LaPaglia
, and Samantha Morton
as Hattie, a lovable young mute woman. Allen appears briefly as himself, being interviewed about Ray's music.
The film, loosely based on Federico Fellini
's film La strada
, was one of Allen's best-received dramatic films.
, Allen signed a contract to direct a series of films with United Artists
. Told to "write what you want to write," Allen wrote The Jazz Baby, a dramatic screenplay about a jazz musician set in the thirties. Allen said later that the United Artists executives were "stunned... because they had expected a comedy. [They] were very worried and told me, 'We realize that we signed a contract with you and you can do anything you want. But we want to tell you that we really don't like this.'" Allen went along with United Artists, writing and directing Bananas
instead. In 1995, he dismissed The Jazz Baby as having been "probably too ambitious."
In 1998, Allen returned to the project, rewriting the script and dubbing it Sweet and Lowdown. In the role of Emmet Ray, a jazz guitarist whom Allen had originally planned to play himself, the director cast Sean Penn
; Allen also considered Johnny Depp
, but the actor was busy at the time. In regards to working with Sean Penn, who had a reputation for being difficult to work with, Allen later said, "I had no problem with him whatsoever... He gave it his all and took direction and made contributions himself... a tremendous actor."
Allen's use of Penn (and Morton) paid off when Sweet and Lowdown was nominated for Academy Awards
for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(Sean Penn) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(Samantha Morton
). Morton's nomination was especially notable, considering the fact that she does not utter a single word of dialogue in the film. Allen has said that he told Morton to "play the part like Harpo Marx
. And she said, 'Who is Harpo Marx
?' and I realized how young she was. Then I told her about him [and] she went back and saw the films." In addition to her Oscar nomination, Morton's performance was met with critical acclaim, with Salon.com
critic Stephanie Zacharek saying that she "quietly explodes [the film]... Her performance is like nothing I've seen in recent years."
Sweet and Lowdown was filmed entirely in New York
and New Jersey
but set in the Chicago area and California.
The film was the first of Allen's that was edited by Alisa Lepselter
, who has edited all of Allen's films since. Lepselter was succeeding Susan E. Morse
, who had edited Allen's films for the previous twenty years.
. All of the guitar solos are played by guitarist Howard Alden
. Alden also coached Sean Penn
on playing the guitar for his role in the film.
Additional rhythm guitarists: Bucky Pizzarelli
and James Chirillo
— Chirillo played rhythm guitar on the Sweet Georgia Brown track — where the crescent moon
cable breaks while Sean Penn
is riding it. Pizzarelli did all other rhythm tracks.
, with the consensus "Critics praise Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown for its charming, light-hearted comedy and quality acting." The film carries a 70 on Metacritic
, indicating generally favorable reviews.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written and directed by Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
which tells the story of a fictional arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist named Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
) who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
. The film also stars Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
, Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
, and Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
as Hattie, a lovable young mute woman. Allen appears briefly as himself, being interviewed about Ray's music.
The film, loosely based on Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
's film La strada
La Strada (film)
La Strada is a 1954 Italian neorealist drama directed by Federico Fellini in which a naïve young woman is sold to a brutish man and goes on the road as a part of his itinerant show....
, was one of Allen's best-received dramatic films.
Cast
- Sean PennSean PennSean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
as Emmet Ray - Samantha MortonSamantha MortonSamantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
as Hattie - Anthony LaPagliaAnthony LaPagliaAnthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
as Al Torrio - Uma ThurmanUma ThurmanUma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
as Blanche - James UrbaniakJames UrbaniakJames Christian Urbaniak is an American actor. Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife Julie and their twins, son Severn Jerzy and daughter Esme Maeve....
as Henry - John WatersJohn Waters (filmmaker)John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
as Mr. Haynes - Gretchen MolGretchen MolGretchen Mol is an American actress and former model. She is known for her roles in films like Rounders, Celebrity, 3:10 to Yuma, The Thirteenth Floor,and The Notorious Bettie Page, where she played the title character...
as Ellie - Denis O'HareDenis O'HareDenis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk...
as Jake - Molly PriceMolly Price-Personal life:Price was born in North Plainfield, New Jersey, and graduated from North Plainfield High School in 1984.She is a graduate of Rutgers University. She is married to a New York City Fire Department firefighter Derek Kelly...
as Ann - Brian MarkinsonBrian MarkinsonBrian Markinson is a Canadian film and television actor. He has appeared as Police Chief Bill Jacobs on Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall...
as Bill Shields - Tony DarrowTony DarrowTony Darrow is an American actor.Darrow was born Anthony Borgese and grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Darrow had plenty of opportunity to observe would be mobsters and their attitudes while growing up in his neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a child, Tony was gifted with a great...
as Ben - Daniel OkrentDaniel OkrentDaniel Okrent is an American writer and editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper, for inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, and for writing several books, most recently Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.-Education and...
as A.J. Pickman - Brad GarrettBrad GarrettBradley "Brad" Garrett is an American actor, voice actor, stand-up comedian, and professional poker player. Throughout he has appeared in numerous television and film roles....
as Joe Bedloe - Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
as Himself - Ben Duncan as Himself
- Nat HentoffNat HentoffNathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
as Himself - Douglas McGrathDouglas McGrathDouglas Geoffrey McGrath is an American screenwriter. He is also a film director and actor.McGrath was nominated for a both an Academy Award and a BAFTA award for his Bullets Over Broadway screenplay...
as Himself
Production
Hot off his 1969 directing debut Take the Money and RunTake the Money and Run
Take the Money and Run is a 1969 comedy film written by Woody Allen and Mickey Rose, and directed by and starring Woody Allen. It is an early mockumentary, chronicling the life of Virgil Starkwell, a bungling petty thief...
, Allen signed a contract to direct a series of films with United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. Told to "write what you want to write," Allen wrote The Jazz Baby, a dramatic screenplay about a jazz musician set in the thirties. Allen said later that the United Artists executives were "stunned... because they had expected a comedy. [They] were very worried and told me, 'We realize that we signed a contract with you and you can do anything you want. But we want to tell you that we really don't like this.'" Allen went along with United Artists, writing and directing Bananas
Bananas (film)
Bananas is a 1971 comedy film written by Mickey Rose and Woody Allen, directed by Allen, and starring himself and Louise Lasser. Parts of the plot were based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell. It was filmed on location in New York City, Lima , and various locations in Puerto...
instead. In 1995, he dismissed The Jazz Baby as having been "probably too ambitious."
In 1998, Allen returned to the project, rewriting the script and dubbing it Sweet and Lowdown. In the role of Emmet Ray, a jazz guitarist whom Allen had originally planned to play himself, the director cast Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
; Allen also considered Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, but the actor was busy at the time. In regards to working with Sean Penn, who had a reputation for being difficult to work with, Allen later said, "I had no problem with him whatsoever... He gave it his all and took direction and made contributions himself... a tremendous actor."
Allen's use of Penn (and Morton) paid off when Sweet and Lowdown was nominated for Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Sean Penn) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
). Morton's nomination was especially notable, considering the fact that she does not utter a single word of dialogue in the film. Allen has said that he told Morton to "play the part like Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
. And she said, 'Who is Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
?' and I realized how young she was. Then I told her about him [and] she went back and saw the films." In addition to her Oscar nomination, Morton's performance was met with critical acclaim, with Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
critic Stephanie Zacharek saying that she "quietly explodes [the film]... Her performance is like nothing I've seen in recent years."
Sweet and Lowdown was filmed entirely in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
but set in the Chicago area and California.
The film was the first of Allen's that was edited by Alisa Lepselter
Alisa Lepselter
Alisa Lepselter is a film editor who has edited director Woody Allen's films since 1999.Lepselter began her editing career as an intern with editor Craig McKay on Something Wild . She was an apprentice with editor Barry Malkin on Francis Ford Coppola's segment of New York Stories...
, who has edited all of Allen's films since. Lepselter was succeeding Susan E. Morse
Susan E. Morse
Susan E. Morse is an American film editor with more than 30 film credits. She had a notable collaboration with director Woody Allen from 1977-1998...
, who had edited Allen's films for the previous twenty years.
Music
The music for the film was arranged and conducted by Dick HymanDick Hyman
Richard “Dick” Hyman is an American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer, best-known for his versatility with jazz piano styles. Over a 50 year career, he has functioned as pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and, increasingly, as composer...
. All of the guitar solos are played by guitarist Howard Alden
Howard Alden
Howard Alden is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. He has recorded a long series of albums for Concord Records. His performances were dubbed over Sean Penn as 'Emmet Ray' in the 1999 Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown...
. Alden also coached Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
on playing the guitar for his role in the film.
Additional rhythm guitarists: Bucky Pizzarelli
Bucky Pizzarelli
John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli is an American Jazz guitarist and banjoist, and the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and upright bassist Martin Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli has also worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett and also ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in...
and James Chirillo
James Chirillo
James Louis Chirillo is an American jazz guitarist, jazz banjoist, composer, arranger, and band leader...
— Chirillo played rhythm guitar on the Sweet Georgia Brown track — where the crescent moon
Lunar phase
A lunar phase or phase of the moon is the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases change cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun...
cable breaks while Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
is riding it. Pizzarelli did all other rhythm tracks.
Reception
Sweet and Lowdown received generally positive reviews; it currently holds a 78% 'fresh' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with the consensus "Critics praise Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown for its charming, light-hearted comedy and quality acting." The film carries a 70 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, indicating generally favorable reviews.