Sweet and Lowdown – (1999) Writer/director Woody Allen’s fictional biopic, documentary style with commentary from various authorities (including Nat Hentoff, Ben Duncan, and Allen), of the second greatest guitarist in the world, Emmet Ray (Sean Penn). Second only to the gypsy Django Reinhardt, in whose presence Emmet was said to have fainted or cried, the highly insecure, self-infatuated musician performed during the ‘20s and ‘30s, leaving behind several recordings before fading into obscurity.

Friends and associates said he’d been a pimp, kleptomaniac, alcoholic, spendthrift, yet in spite of his boorishness, he was generous to a fault, constantly in debt. His pastimes included pool, shooting rats at the dump, and watching trains. For a year he lived with Hattie (Samantha Morton), a mute simpleton in love with Emmet and his music. A disastrous marriage to a sophisticated aspiring writer, Blanche (Uma Thurman), resulted in a legendary incident involving Blanche and the gangster with whom she was having an affair, with Emmet hiding in the backseat of the car, with three versions of the events, each preposterous. 

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Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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