Sweet And Lowdown (1999)

Great talent doesn't always come with a great heart, and some artists only understand what they've lost once it's gone. Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown" makes beautiful music, even if the comedy comes only in fits and starts. Sean Penn stars as Emmet Ray, a fictional swing-era jazz guitarist in 1930s America who is irresponsible, womanizing and powered by an ego nearly as big as his talent. He's convinced he's the second-greatest guitarist in the world, surpassed only by the Gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt, whom he idolizes, and he constantly reminds everyone that he's a true artist. When he plays, soaring into a blissful world of pure melody, he proves it. Samantha Morton nearly steals the film as Hattie, his gentle, mute girlfriend, a sweet, Chaplin-like waif who loves him without conditions, and Uma Thurman brings haughty spirit to her role as a slumming socialite and would-be writer endlessly analyzing Emmet's quirks, like his habit of taking dates to shoot rats at the town dump. The episodic story is punctuated by comments from jazz experts, including Allen himself, but it's less a "Zelig"-style mock documentary than an extension of the self-absorbed portraits in "Deconstructing Harry" and "Celebrity." The slow pace sometimes drags, and the script runs thin between comic highlights - it cries out for more of Allen's playful invention - but there's a bittersweet tenderness and vulnerability missing from much of his recent work. Beautifully shot by Zhao Fei, the cinematographer of "Raise the Red Lantern" and "The Emperor and the Assassin," it's one of Allen's most gorgeous, colorful films in years, lifted by toe-tapping music and Penn's gruffly charming performance. Both Penn and Morton earned Oscar nominations.