58
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60The TelegraphAmber WilkinsonThe TelegraphAmber WilkinsonThe film hinges on the bond between dad and daughter and on the expressive face of Fanning, as we see her shift from a sort of nervous adoration of the unpredictable, if loving, Joe, to something more steely and independent.
- 60VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasIt’s a familiar story of music-world success, failure and addiction, admirably but unevenly told by first-time feature director Jeff Preiss, who certainly knows the music and the milieu, but proves less adept at shaping the material into a consistently compelling narrative.
- 60Time OutTime OutFanning manages to bring soulfulness to a character who mostly reacts to others; you just wish the whole movie were, well, jazzier.
- 50The DissolveMike D'AngeloThe DissolveMike D'AngeloFanning and Hawkes are both great actors, but they can only do so much with Low Down’s familiar, monotonous cycle of recovery and relapse.
- 50Village VoiceMichael NordineVillage VoiceMichael NordineThere are too many notes that, while not false, are neither satisfactorily resolved nor left interestingly unresolved.
- 50ObserverRex ReedObserverRex ReedA well-meaning but desultory descent into darkness based on a memoir of the same name by Amy-Jo Albany, daughter of Joe Albany, the great jazz pianist who died in 1988 at age 63. The book, published in 2003, was subtitled Junk, Jazz and Other Fairy Tales From Childhood, and that just about covers it.
- 50Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaSlant MagazineKenji FujishimaThere's only so much that Fanning's vividly expressive face and Hawkes's charismatic sensitivity can mask before we realize how little we truly understand what goes on in anybody's head.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyUnfortunately, the film never begins to reveal what's really going on inside Joe Albany.
- 38New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartFirst-time feature director Jeff Preiss has a top-notch duo in John Hawkes, as the affable but troubled Joe, and Elle Fanning as his teen daughter, Amy, but neither can really get out from under the film’s heavy-handed tone, a one-note trip down a bleak memory lane.
- 33The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe film plays nary a note of reprieve and the dank aesthetic does nothing to help the mood. “Low Down” is unequivocally a downer.