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Oct 27, 2014 By Jennifer Chang Web Exclusive

Nothing much happens in Low Down save for good acting. John Hawkes plays heroin-addicted jazz pianist Joe Albany, and Elle Fanning is his shy, young daughter, Amy-Jo. It’s 1974 Los Angeles in all its vintage glory: the height of Joe’s career is over and the Albanys are barely scraping by, yet Amy-Jo is full of love for her father. Their lives cycle through bands pounding out beautiful music, drug abuse, laughter and parties, and missed parole appointments. As Joe’s career keep spiraling downward with his inability to stay clean, Amy-Jo is finally forced from her off-beat fairytale childhood with the realization that she is powerless to help her father.

On top of its two strong lead actors, Low Down’s supporting cast is equally impressive: Glenn Close from Damages, and Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey from Game of Thrones all exercise their parts to the fullest. If only there was plot, rather than snapshots of lives that lead nowhere. The protagonists all hit the same barriers. John Hawkes radiates charm and denial, and when his boney frame is bent over the keys, he seems absorbed in music. Meanwhile, Elle Fanning complements Hawkes with a soft-spoken innocence even as she suffers the seediness of her father’s lifestyle. Yet, neither has any character arc to build on. Even the few dramatic happenings, such as Joe’s arrest then move to Europe, do not transform the characters much.

The saddest part about Low Down is that nearly every happy moment in Amy-Jo’s life – listening to records by great artists, climbing through a neighbor’s (literal) hole-in-the-wall residence, Valentine’s Day breakfast with Dad – ends with the pre-teen witnessing drugs, sex or death. This seems to be building up to the moment when Amy-Jo is 15 and sex and drugs become a real possibility for her; yet, the film wraps up just as Amy-Jo begins to make choices in her life, taking away whatever resolution the audience might gain. The manner with which the characters in Low Down meander forward day by day without change reflects real life, but make for dreary viewing and squanders the talents of an excellent cast.

www.lowdownfilm.com

Author rating: 4/10