The Movie:

Early on in Low Down, young Amy Albany (Elle Fanning) visits his jazz pianist father Joe (John Hawkes) in prison. During the early 70s when the story is set, Joe Albany is a legendary LA-based jazz pianist, greatly respected by his peers. He's also a heroin junkie who can't seem to get his life straight regardless of the fact that he has a teenage daughter to look after. During the otherwise somber visit to prison, Joe's mother Gram (Glenn Close) asks Joe if he's been practicing. Joe tells her that there's a piano in the church. Gram scoffs and says, "I bet it's horribly out of tune".

Little moments like these show how much passion these characters feel about music and why, aside from their many glaring problems, they are charming. You wouldn't want to trade places with them for all the gold in the world, while still envying their dedication to their art form, no matter how low down in the dumps they find themselves.

Based on the real Amy Albany's memoir (Albany also shares screenwriting credit) about growing up with her father, Low Down is an uneven, episodic, yet passionate biopic about a jazz legend and the demons that follow such talent. While it doesn't shy away from the pain and confusion of having a junkie for a father, it also does a great job capturing why this lifestyle, surrounded by a bunch of cool cats enjoying the hell out of the music they perform, can be intoxicating and, well, addictive.

The screenplay and the editing suffer from pacing issues. The episodic nature of the film, perhaps due to it being a more-than-necessarily loyal adaptation of the memoir, turns it into a bit of a drag, especially during the meandering second act. Perhaps director Jeff Preiss' point was to construct an unconventionally structured feature, reminiscent of the style of jazz it depicts. But the film as a whole understandably lacks the dynamic energy of this music, since it's mostly a heavy drama about addiction and broken family dynamics. Considering this, a shorter run time and a more focused narrative might have helped.

What really work here are the excellent performances by Fanning and Fawkes, along with half the cast of Game of Thrones and Orange is the New Black. Glenn Close is especially touching as the grandmother, proving once again why she's a legend among her peers. Low Down presents a flawed but intriguing story that respects the passion these characters have for jazz, while utilizing an unflinching approach to the pain and suffering they have to deal with.

The DVD:

Video:

The standard definition transfer of Low Down is as good as you can get on DVD. The grainy and raw 16mm cinematography looks gorgeous while upconverted on an HDTV, without any video noises to be noticed anywhere. Short of getting your hands on a Blu-Ray copy, this is the best Low Down will look on home video.

Audio:

There are two lossy Dolby Digital options here, 5.1 and 2.0. Of course with any film that deals with music, especially jazz, what matters is the dynamism and depth of the score. In that respect, even though the film doesn't have almost any surround presence, whenever there's any musical performance, the sound transfer shines. The 2.0 presentation should be a perfect alternative if you don't have a surround system.

Extras:

Behind The Scenes: This 20-minute featurette stays away from the clinical feel of a typical EPK by offering some raw footage from the shoot, as well as honest sounding interviews with the cast and crew.

Interview with Amy Albany and Flea: A 10-minute Q&A with Amy Albany, who gets into detail about how the memoir was written and how the film version happened. It looks like Flea, who has a small role in Low Down, is there mostly for emotional support.

Audio Commentary with Jeff Preiss, Composer Ohad Talmor and Film Critic Ed Halter: This is an insightful commentary that Preiss mostly dominates with the details of his personal approach to the story.

We also get a Trailer.

Final Thoughts:

Low Down is a commendable effort that gets bogged down by an uneven approach and misses out on becoming a memorable music biopic. That being said, the cast and crew's obvious respect and passion for the subject matter shines through, and it deserves a rental on those terms alone.

Oktay Ege Kozak is a film critic and screenwriter based in Portland, Oregon. He also writes for The Playlist, The Oregon Herald, and Beyazperde.com