Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
Woody Allen's mockumentary about fictional jazz guitarist Emmet Ray is elevated enormously by Sean Penn's magnetic, Oscar-nominated performance — vain, self-destructive, and oddly endearing. The film's novelty lies in its singular blend of pseudo-documentary framing, 1930s jazz atmosphere, and Allen's characteristic neurotic comedy applied to a Depression-era setting, making it feel genuinely one-of-a-kind within his filmography. Samantha Morton's wordless, expressive performance as Hattie is another standout. The plot meanders somewhat deliberately, following Ray's self-sabotaging romantic and professional life without strong dramatic momentum. Cinematography by Zhao Fei captures period warmth but doesn't transcend its aesthetic. The ending is fittingly bittersweet and consistent with the film's melancholy humor, though not particularly surprising.