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Low Down (2014)

Name: Low Down
Genre: Drama, Music
Released: 2014-01-19
Duration: 119 min
Rating: 5.5
Cast: John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey

Low Down (2014), directed by Jeff Preiss, starring John Hawkes and Elle Fanning.

01/19/2014 BR Drama and Music 1h 59m

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Synopsis

The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.

Christopher BlauveltCinematography
Jeff PreissDirector
Michael SaiaEditing
Albert BergerProducer

About the film

Low Down is a 2014 American biopic directed by Jeff Preiss and based on the memoirs written by Amy-Jo Albany (portrayed by Elle Fanning) about her father, famed jazz pianist Joe Albany (portrayed by John Hawkes), and his struggles with drug addiction.

The film was executive produced by Anthony Kiedis and Flea (who also co-stars in the film) of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The film premiered in competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2014. It won the "Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic" at the festival.

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The film was executive produced by Anthony Kiedis and Flea (who also co-stars in the film) of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The film premiered in competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2014. It won the "Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic" at the festival.

Plot summary

Joe Albany was an accomplished jazz pianist during the 1960s through the 1980s, performing with the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus before his descent into heroin addiction. The film tells the story of Albany's life from the perspective of his daughter, Amy-Jo Albany, a frequent witness to his drug use (and related legal trouble) as well as his passion for music.

Cast

John Hawkes as Joe Albany

Elle Fanning as Amy-Jo Albany

Lena Headey as Sheila Albany

Glenn Close as Gram

Flea as Hobbs

Caleb Landry Jones as Cole

Taryn Manning as Colleen

Peter Dinklage as Alain

Billy Drago as Lew

Burn Gorman as Parole Officer Wiggenhern

Tim Daly as Dalton

Linda Wang as Chinese Woman

Rain Phoenix as Kitty

Wiley Pickett as Gentleman Cowboy

Production

Actor Mark Ruffalo was originally cast as Joe Albany in 2011 but was forced to back out due to scheduling issues and production being delayed.

Release

The film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2014, winning an award for Best Cinematography. It also won Best Film at the New Hampshire Film Festival in 2014. The first official trailer was released on September 18, 2014. The film opened to a limited release on October 24, 2014 in New York City and October 31, 2014 in Los Angeles.

Reception

Low Down was met with mixed reviews. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes sampled 50 critics' reviews, 25 positive and 25 negative, bringing the score to 50%, averaging 5.7/10. The film's consensus reads: "Rich in mood and on-screen talent but lacking in narrative depth, Low Down tells an oft-told tale with a troubling dearth of imagination." Metacritic, another review aggregator, gives the film 58 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics (six of them positive, thirteen mixed, and two negative), with its general agreement being "mixed or average" reviews.

Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for RogerEbert.com, gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "a very good jazz movie and a very good heroin movie," while Rex Reed described Elle Fanning's performance as "heartbreaking". George Varga of the San Diego Union-Tribune deemed Low Down "a grimly gripping movie" but was less effusive than Seitz, giving it two-and-a-half stars.

David Edelstein, in Vulture, praised the performances by Hawkes, Fanning, and much of the supporting cast, but felt that the film was "not as entertaining as" the book on which it was based: "The weakness of Low Down is that it misses the wry tone and scruffy, eccentrically funny parts of [Amy-Jo] Albany’s memoir."

References

External links

Official page on Tumblr

Low Down at IMDb

Text from Low Down on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Down

Trivia

It premiered on January 19, 2014, a Sunday.
It runs 1h59 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is on no subscription service in Brazil — only to rent or buy on Claro video, Apple TV Store, Amazon Video.
This film's quiz has 13 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosHeretic Films, Epoch Films, Oscilloscope, Bona Fide Productions
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

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Crew

Christopher Blauvelt Cinematography
Jeff Preiss Director
Michael Saia Editing
Albert Berger Producer
Mindy Goldberg Producer
Ron Yerxa Producer
Ohad Talmor Original music
Amy Albany Screenplay
Topper Lilien Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Low Down about?

Low Down: The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.

Who directed Low Down?

Low Down was directed by Jeff Preiss in 2014.

Who stars in Low Down?

The cast of Low Down includes John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey.

How long is Low Down?

Low Down runs for 119 minutes, or 1h59.

Where can I watch Low Down?

Low Down is available on Claro video, Apple TV Store, Amazon Video and Google Play Movies. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.