This is probably one of my favourite Woody films, along with "Hannah" and "Aphrodite," on the strength of its charm alone. Responsible for much, if not all of that charm, are Penn and Morton, who were able to keep me more or less glued to the screen, despite a somewhat directionless plot. I like that Allen didn't assume that he knew enough about Emmet Ray to create a seamless narrative of his life, and instead let the movie deal with what people knew or, in some instances, did not know. There was a wonderful sense of nostalgia as I watched the film that let me into the characters of Emmet and Hatty, which is a really nice place to be in. All the characters are vivid and enjoyable, as they all tend to be when Woody's name is on the script, and this quite detracted from the fact that in 140 minutes, not really a lot happened. Extremely enjoyable, I gave it a 7.
Review of Sweet and Lowdown
