It's disappointing that Low Down unspools toward the end, since the first half is filled with great characters and a smart script. Like Amy's character herself, the film is astute in some ways and overwhelmingly awkward in others.

| Jan 22, 2021

Somewhere over the rainbow the skies are blue, that's the dream. Some make it, some don't - this eloquent daughter's tale shows both sides.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 21, 2014

Gets stuck in a cycle of addiction and morning-after regret while missing a chance to explore the how and why of its characters.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 20, 2014

"Low Down" nicely evokes a smokey mood of '50s jazz and Hollywood noir and deserves points for its emotional straightforwardness, but its tired story and deliberate pace never really draw you in.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 20, 2014

Whiplash is like one of those Buddy Rich solos the kid idolizes: hot, sweaty and in-your-face. Low Down is like the version of Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life played in one of this film's club scenes: somber, moody and cool to the touch.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 20, 2014

The acting makes it a far more compelling ride than it otherwise would have been.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 20, 2014

Fanning's performance rescues the film from mediocrity.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 14, 2014

Low Down is a wonderful downer of a film that fits quite comfortably on the video-store shelf between Barfly and Drugstore Cowboy. That said, depending on your proclivity for plunging into the cinematic depths of despair, your mileage may vary.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 13, 2014

Low Down is rich in vivid characters.

| Nov 10, 2014

Perhaps the real trouble is this: the chief relationship here is between a man and his needle; everybody else is just a problem to be forgotten while high.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 7, 2014

Glenn Close plays Amy-Jo's grandmother, a nurturing figure in a dingy milieu, and delivers one of her better recent performances, while Hawkes, who bears a striking resemblance to Albany, again proves he's among our most dependable actors.

| Nov 6, 2014

The squalor alone isn't enough - this would be a more affecting story had if it showed us what was happening beneath the decaying exterior.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 6, 2014

"Low Down" serves as a terrific example of how to evoke a given period on a tight budget.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 6, 2014

A lovely film that brings great emotion and a dead-on feeling for time, place and recaptured mood to a story that is as universal as it is personal.

| Oct 30, 2014

Low Down is not a happy movie, but it is haunting...

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 24, 2014

Preiss' movie does a consistently excellent job of explaining the lure of jazz, and the psychology of addicts, their enablers and their children without explaining anything.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 24, 2014

This movie from Jeff Preiss is a stream of recollections, but the late-afternoon-light grain of its Super 16-millimeter camerawork and the gestures of warmth between its characters perhaps say more than any rise-and-fall might.

| Oct 23, 2014

Low Down is a knockout, a candid picture of much of jazz, and one more step for a master actor.

| Oct 23, 2014

Preiss soaks his movie in a brownish retro atmosphere, which helps smooth over the many dull spots, but only briefly.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 23, 2014

Low Down keeps the histrionics to a minimum, but the inertia of a good man failing to be a good father isn't enough to sustain nearly two hours of reflection ...

| Original Score: C+ | Oct 23, 2014