A lot has been made of the Oscar nomination that Sean Penn has recieved for his performance in this new film from Woody Allen. Even though I was quite fond of Jim Carrey's work in Man on the Moon, Penn is very worthy of the nomination.

In Sweet and Lowdown, Penn plays a selfish, flashy jazz guitarist circa the '30's. Allen has fashioned a terrific screenplay that only gives us hints into this man's life as opposed to a fluent, full bodied story, only adding to it's effectiveness. Since not a lot was none about this great muscisian, I guess that was the only way to tell the story.

Once again, Penn is fabulous bringing layers to this completely engaging character. He is certainly one of our very best actors. Allen also gets a spectacular performance out of Samantha Morton as a mute and one of many woman in this jazzman's life.

The story only seems to stumble when Uma Thurman is on screen. She comes across dull and as stiff as a board, but that's hardly enough to ruin this very entertaining film.

Perhaps the most striking thing about Sweet and Lowdown is how so much of the story seems to mirror much of Allen's life. This was also true of one of Allen's best film's Deconstructing Harry. In that aspect, this is a pretty bold and courageous film. But just as Penn's character in Sweet and Lowdown, Allen expresses himself through his art.

Sweet and Lowdown does show Woody Allen at the top of his craft. It's a vast improvement over the amusing but disapointing Celebirty