Opening

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—— A Green Story May 24
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Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
88% The East May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31

Sweet and Lowdown (1999)

tomatometer

78

Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 60
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 13

Critics praise Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown for its charming, light-hearted comedy and quality acting.

69

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 5

Critics praise Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown for its charming, light-hearted comedy and quality acting.

audience

76

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 13,364

My Rating

Movie Info

Woody Allen immerses himself in the world of vintage jazz in this period mock-biography of a musician gifted in his art but a sad student in life. Emmet Ray (Sean Penn) is a 1930s jazz guitarist considered one of the finest musicians ever to touch a fretboard, second only to the legendary Django Reinhardt. For all the passion and sensitivity of his music, Emmet is a louse off-stage; he earned his living as a pimp before gaining fame, and he throws his money away on flashy clothes and big cars,

Jun 20, 2000

Sony Pictures Classics - Official Site External Icon

Cast

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All Critics (83) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (13) | DVD (12)

Droll and amusing.

August 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A shallow portrait of the artist as a cad.

March 22, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Woody Allen, in his thirtieth outing as writer-director, still shows signs of change, improvement, depth of feeling.

September 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Thanks to Morton's presence, it gets closer to the sweetness of the wonderful Everyone Says I Love You.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

Focusing on the story, the auteur explores his two favorite topics, jazz and s----heels, to enter the new millenium in style.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

... seems to be the latest chapter in a great work on the artist's search for meaning, for self-worth, for redemption.

December 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Looking Closer
Looking Closer

If you aren't sure you like jazz, see this movie just to be exposed to the Django sound! Your next trip might be to the record store.

November 21, 2003 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals
Cinema Signals

Combining the worst traits of his two most recent outings--the overweening cruelty of Deconstructing Harry and the formal and narrative laziness of Celebrity.

March 19, 2003 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks
Nick's Flick Picks

A pleasant film. It's sweet and low down on my list of Allen favorites, but worth seeing for Penn's performance.

October 21, 2002 Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan
San Diego Metropolitan

Audience Reviews for Sweet and Lowdown

For some art is therapy. Allen posits that the reverse also holds water, only not quite with this effort. Sean Penn is Allen's willing doppelganger here (not adopting Allen's much copied persona unlike most), a man afraid to connect emotionally to anyone. Can anyone get through his Maginot Line of defenses to get to the soul within? Pathos, instead of laughs, thereby infuses this supposed casual look at self-imposed solitude.
September 26, 2011
UniversalDreamer

Super Reviewer

Quite delightful. Samantha Morton seriously doesn't need a voice. She has a face!

I'm a little iffy about the mockumentary aspect of this movie. For much of it, I thought Emmet Ray was a real person. Then when I learned he wasn't, I wondered why Woody tried to make the biography seem so real. He doesn't eschew mixing fantasy and reality in his other films, so why create a Django Reinhardt-esque character who worships Django Reinhardt without differentiating between the real and fictional Django Reinhardts (think Tom Baxter and Gil Shepherd in The Purple Rose of Cairo)?

Django Reinhardt.
June 5, 2011
aliceinpunderland

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Sweet & Lowdown (DE)
  • Acordes y desacuerdos (ES)
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