365 Days. 365 Films.

This is a comedy biopic about a fictional jazz guitarist set in the 1930s. Emmet Ray (Penn) is a stereotypical musician who is only interested in short term flings with beautiful women. He is arrogant, miserable and an alcoholic enjoying being free and hoping to hit the big time.

Sean Penn was made for this role and he plays it with all the drama and comedy with which it was written. It’s not a typical Woody Allen movie in terms of the plot and also the fact that Allen is merely being interviewed about Emmet Ray in only a few scenes was slightly disappointing, but this was around the time that his acting roles diminished to cameos. As he now focuses on directing and writing, the later Allen movies to today are not quite what is expected of him, but the writing and direction are perfect nonetheless.

There is nothing particularly disappointing about the film, it’s well made and as funny as you may hope, although it’s not the same style of comedy as some of Allen’s later movies. One criticism would be the storyline, it doesn’t allow for much to happen, and although this is typical of Allen’s movies, and although Sean Penn is fantastic in this film, Allen’s typical comedy isn’t there to fill in the blanks of the plot. Still a brilliant film though.