There are some Sundance movies which sustain buzz throughout the year ("Whiplash"), and then there are others that have to work a bit harder to get back on the radar, especially if those film’s chances were compromised some initially halfhearted reviews. After premiering in Park City in January, not much was heard about the grimy indie "Low Down," (negative reviews didn’t help). But the film, starring Elle Fanning, John Hawkes and Glenn Close, might have a new lease on life.
About the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany (Hawkes) and told from the perspective of his young daughter (Fanning) as she watches him contend with his drug addiction in the 1960s and ’70s jazz scene, “Low Down” was extensively recut and reshaped after Sundance (and some pretty sharp reviews),.
In fact, first time feature length director Jeff Priess told THR earlier this year that the movie’s editing schedule was rushed to make the Sundance date. “We got it done based on an arbitrary date on a calendar,” Priess said. Perspective helped too. “It had gotten hard for me to watch the movie alone,” he explained, “but having the vicarious experience of seeing the movie through an audience’s eyes is heart pounding. You have a much greater trust in what you like and don’t like in that setting.”
“I think there must be over a thousand changes,” he said. “The result is the languid moments become more powerful in their atmosphere by virtue of being surrounded by scenes that are paced sharper.”
Co-starring Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Tim Daly, Taryn Manning, Billy Drago, River Ross and Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea, who plays a jazz musician in the film, “Low Down” is set to hit theaters via Oscilloscope on October 24 in New York and October 31 in Los Angeles. Check out the new trailer and poster below.
