[2.0/4.0]
The history of Jazz music is filled with interesting characters, often talented and flawed individuals who excel at their skills, but unable to succeed by normal standards. This is a fictional story presented as semi-documentary about a supremely talented Jazz guitarist and his obscure life. On the surface, this appears to be a typical Woody Allen film, sans Allen as an actor. It features typical Allen elements, a flawed antihero, love of music, and an examination of the redemptive value of art.
Emmet Ray (Sean Penn) is a legendary guitarist who is hailed by aficionados, but generally unknown outside Jazz circles. Because of his lack of breakthrough success, little is know about his past, and what is known may be exaggerated, or even false. The structure of the film is that of a documentary with dramatic recreations. Several music enthusiasts and historians relate what they know about Ray in talking head format, and their stories flow into extended dramatic portrayals without narration.
Ray's story centers around the peak of his career. As an itinerant musician, he is able to dazzle women and has a different girlfriend in the different parts of the country. On day on the Atlantic City boardwalk, he encounters the mute Hattie (Samantha Morton). Although he is initially not much enamored of her, her quiet character clearly forms a complement to his outgoing, loud persona. He reluctantly allows her to accompany him and his traveling band. Eventually, the renegade artist pays a price for his lack of conscience, but like a true artist, he never is able to (nor really wants to) reform.
Woody Allen film generally fall into three categories: comedies, engaging dramas with humor, and engaging dramas without humor. This film does not fit easily into any of those slots, and this iconoclasm is not a virtue. The little humor that does exist is very simple and uninspired. The drama of the film is unmoving. The acting, which is usually a strong feature of Allen films, is hamstrung by poorly sketched characters, with the exception of Morton as Hattie.
Not recommended. By Woody Allen standards, this is a bad film. By general standards, it is merely slow and dull. The drama is not engaging, and there is little humor. It attempts to examine the typical Allen antihero, the loutish artist, but it fails to construct an interesting story.
(c) 2000 Murali Krishnan The Art House Squatter http://ArtHouseSquatter.com
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