woody allen ( who i have to confess at the outset i have never be a big fan of ) direct this quasi documentary about the life of emmett ray ( sean penn ) and a 1930 jazz guitarist whose star apparently shine for a while and then quickly fade . penn do a credible job in the role and portray a complicate and somewhat neurotic man ( not unlike allen himself and which perhaps explain why woody would be attract to this project ) who can not maintain relationship and and whose twin passion ( aside from guitar play ) be shoot rat at the dump and watching train . there isn not a great deal of consistency to the story . it narrate in a sense by a series of modern day jazz expert ( one of whom be allen himself ) and who relate their various theory and interpretation of different event in ray life . the end result be a wildly inconsistent account of the life of a fictional man who seem to have be give a fairly interesting life story by his creator and who probably should have do a good job with it . jazz fan and fan of woody allen will probably enjoy this . a for me . the best i can give it be a negative .