tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7638298281070675587.post3393416470708284992..comments2024-01-08T22:23:18.482-08:00Comments on The Flick Chick: Review: Sweet and Lowdown (1999)Norma Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12185179321818700556noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7638298281070675587.post-1553463644514414912009-08-06T21:00:27.369-07:002009-08-06T21:00:27.369-07:00@ Ed: I loved the robbery sequence for precisely t...@ Ed: I loved the robbery sequence for precisely that reason. It was my favourite part of the movie that didn't involve Samantha Morton.<br /><br />@ RD: I hadn't thought about it before but now that you mention it, I can totally see Lillian Gish in the performance. It says a lot about the performance that it calls to mind so many different (and great) performers.Norma Desmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12185179321818700556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7638298281070675587.post-8275941611707507562009-08-05T12:28:13.073-07:002009-08-05T12:28:13.073-07:00Norma, I saw this a few years ago not expecting a ...Norma, I saw this a few years ago not expecting a lot and was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't rank it as one of Allen's absolute greatest, but I still found it very good. It was especially the appealing performances that made the movie for me. I'm not a big fan of Penn, but I thought he was subdued and convincing as the likable heel who is also an artist insecure about his talent. Thurman reminded me of a 30s screwball socialite version of Annie Hall, funny but a bit shallow. But as you and Ed point out it was really Samantha Morton who made the movie. She is just a wonderful, completely natural and winning actress, and I've loved her in everything I've seen her in. It's funny that she reminded you of Giulietta Masina in "La Strada" (and that whole comparison with Fellini's film was most apposite and one that hadn't occurred to me), while Ed thought of Harpo Marx. The person I though of while watching her was Lillian Gish in her D.W. Griffith roles. There was something about her winsome smile and the expert way she used her facial expressions that immediately made me think of Gish. A great post on a neglected movie.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7638298281070675587.post-57458803592520144952009-08-05T10:38:08.590-07:002009-08-05T10:38:08.590-07:00Great writeup of a great film, the conclusion to W...Great writeup of a great film, the conclusion to Woody's loose trilogy of cynical masterpieces at the end of the 90s, following <i>Celebrity</i> and <i>Deconstructing Harry</i>. This film is especially notable for the phenomenal performance of Samantha Morton, who doesn't say a word and yet conveys such depth, such charm, that her Hattie is just irresistable. Woody apparently told her to play the part like Harpo Marx and showed her some Marx Brothers movies as preparation; it seems to have worked wonders. Penn, of course, is also great, making Ray a kind of likable asshole.<br /><br />I especially love the way the film comments on the unreliability of historical "fact" in that gas station robbery sequence: the narrative completely breaks down, stuttering and repeating itself, and each version of the story is equally unbelievable. The film says a lot about the form of the biopic and the historical documentary, suggesting that there's really no way of getting close to the deeper truth of another person's life, let alone a person who lived so long ago.Ed Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.com