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Directed by: Jim Jarmusch Starring: Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Alfred Molina, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, etc. "Coffee and Cigarettes" is the new film from director Jim Jarmusch, whose past films include "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai," "Dead Man" and "Night on Earth." I can't do much comparison between this and his other work because my only previous exposure to Jarmusch was about half of 1989's "Mystery Train." "Coffee and Cigarettes" consists of about a dozen short and separate vignettes, most featuring celebrities of varying stature, often playing themselves or versions of themselves. In addition to the stars mentioned above (which were picked fairly arbitrarily from the cast list), the movie also features Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Steve Buscemi, Steve Coogan, GZA and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, and Meg and Jack White of the White Stripes, as well as a handful of other actors. While there are a few exceptions, the general format for each segment is two people meeting for coffee, and their interactions during the encounter. That format leaves a lot of wiggle room, though, but while Jarmusch doesn't mind going to some bizarre places with the characters, a lot of the vignettes are cool because they place these celebrity entities in actual, semi-realistic situations (after all, what's more real and equalizing among people than sipping coffee and having a smoke?). What "Coffee and Cigarettes" does a really good job at is presenting characters that are vivid and interesting (without being tediously quirky) and then summarizing up their relationship perfectly in a single scene. I think any of these scenes could be expanded to a full-length film without needing to expand the characterizations much at all. Each one really feels like a slice out of a bigger story. My three favorite segments all happened to be about the differing or ambiguous status of the two characters being featured in each: musicians Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, British actors Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan, and actress Cate Blanchett and her cousin Shelly (also played by Blanchett, and awesomely). Which leads to my biggest complaint about the movie: while I really enjoyed each mini-story, when it was all over, I felt somewhat unsatisfied. There's no real introduction, body, or conclusion to the movie. When deciding the film's genre for this post, the only thing that fit at all was Drama, and yet I couldn't bring myself to label as a drama a movie where nothing happens. This characteristic is inherent in the format, and while it didn't keep me from enjoying the movie, it was a detriment to its overall impact. One more note that I couldn't fit in above: although one of the scenes I was most looking forward to was Jack and Meg White and their Tesla coil, it was actually probably the one I liked least. It's more a novelty than anything else: "Hey, it's the White Stripes in a movie! Drinking coffee! And discussing the electrical innovations of Nikola Tesla!" The dialogue isn't great, Jack White isn't that good an actor, and Meg White is terrible. But again, not so big a deal that it ruins the movie or anything. RATING: 4.5 PROS: Wonderful characterization, acting, direction CONS: Somewhat gimmicky; hard to get attached to movie as a whole ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379217/
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May 23, 2004 23:41
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 08:23 |
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The only redeeming thing about this movie is the scene between RZA, GZA and Bill Murray. Other than that, everything feels forced and unnatural. It also doesn't help that the whole movie is silent save for conversation and backround noise. Not that I was expecting a booming loud soundtrack of a action movie, just maybe some elevator music or something. At the end of it all, I felt like I wasted my time watching this movie. 2.5/5 ----------------
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Jun 2, 2004 21:27
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quote:Vintersorg came out of the closet to say: ...agreed. for some reason, i don't enjoy watching b-list actors smoke and discuss how they may be related for two hours. very pretentious and self indulgent, with no substance. i've been warning people to avoid it like the plague. 1/5
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Jun 7, 2004 07:34
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Yeah, you had to really "get" what Jarmusch does in his films - if you did it's really good.
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Jun 7, 2004 08:18
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this is one of the most brilliant movies i have seen in recent memory. some of the scenes are hilarious, some are intentionaly awkward, some beautiful. please dont rate this movie a 1 if you "dont get it". i dont think you guys are giving this movie the credit it deserves. in my opinion at least. the first and last scenes were my favorite. the one with rza, gza, and bill murray was pretty good too. but the last scene with the two old men was really really beautiful. and the first scene, the one with roberto benigni...well... i couldnt stop laughing. and tom waits is just the man.
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Jun 8, 2004 19:56
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I liked the movie a lot overall. I thought it was based on a good concept (albeit a little gimmicky) and generally well-executed. A few of the vignettes, however, were based on really weak concepts and seemed to drag on forever. Here is my take on each of the different segments. I tried to avoid spoilers. Strange to Meet You: Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright meet in a coffeehouse. They engage in some slapstick such as switching positions at the table. Wright needs to go to a dental appointment, but doesn’t want to. This one was pretty funny, but not the best. Wright made a good straight man, and Jim Jarmusch (the director) had the sense to end it before Benigni’s silliness got old. (8/10) Twins: Cinque Lee and Joie Lee are twins. They talk about nothing in particular and are generally somewhat antagonistic. Steve Buscemi, a waiter, enters and presents his theory about Elvis Presley’s twin brother replacing Elvis in his later years. This one started out kind of slowly, but once Buscemi began speaking to Cinque and Joie about Elvis, it picked up. It was funny to listen to Buscemi defend Elvis against allegations that he was a racist. Cinque was very funny as the bellhop in Mystery Train, but here he is overshadowed by Buscemi. (7/10) Somewhere in California: Tom Waits and Iggy Pop are in a roadside diner. They have both given up smoking, so they have a cigarette to celebrate. Neither of them has any of their songs on the jukebox. Waits and Iggy Pop (James Osterberg is his real name, I think) are a surprisingly funny duo. The people with whom I saw this film liked this one the best. (8/10) Those Things’ll Kill Ya: Joe Rigano and Vinny Vella discuss addiction to coffee and to cigarettes. Vinny Vella, Jr. asks his dad for some money to buy snacks, but he doesn’t speak and has to pantomime his request. He buys some Japanese peas and a soda, which Rigano thinks are very expensive. Like Strange to Meet You, this one is a funny premise that is not stretched too thin. It’s good, but perhaps a bit forgettable. (7/10) Renee: Renee French reads some redneck magazine about guns and motorcycles. E.J. Rodriguez, a waiter, refills her coffee and tries to make small talk. This one is terrible. If you are riveted by the apparent incongruity between French and the magazine she is reading, you will like it. I thought it was boring as hell. (1/10) No Problem: Isaach de Bankole worries that his friend, Alex Descas, has a problem. That’s all. This one is pretty bad. If you need to use the restroom, leave during this part. The premise initially shows promise then falters as Jarmusch drags out one joke indefinitely. I’m not sure how long this one actually was, but it seemed to last for a half hour or more. (2/10) Jack Shows Meg his Tesla Coil: Jack White demonstrates a Tesla coil to Meg White. Cinque Lee, a waiter, also watches the demonstration. The coil breaks, and Cinque and Meg suggest ways to repair it. A lot of people in the theater seemed to like this one. Like Renee, this one relies on the incongruity between The White Stripes’ star personas and their evident real-life interests. If you are a huge fan of The White Stripes or of Nicola Tesla, you’ll like it. I thought it was kind of silly and a bit of a letdown. Also, why would Meg allow Jack to give her a basic biography of Tesla? If she was sufficiently knowledgeable about his work to discern what was wrong with the construction of the coil, wouldn’t she have some idea who he was? It would be akin to me allowing a friend to explain basic arithmetic if I had a mastery of calculus. (5/10) Champagne: Taylor Mead and Bill Rice are having a coffee break. Mead wishes that they were drinking champagne instead of coffee because he is senile. This was my favorite. It was sad and funny at the same time, and is the most serious of the bunch. This is the only one that I think could have been improved if it had gone on for longer. (10/10) Cousins: Cate Blanchett and her cousin Shelly (also played by Cate Blanchett) meet in a hotel lobby and drink coffee. Shelly is jealous of Cate’s success, and how Cate’s celebrity status entitles her to privileged treatment. Like Jack Shows Meg his Tesla Coil, this one seemed to be pretty popular among the other audience members, but I didn’t much care for it. The idea of Blanchett playing two roles was really the only thing to propel this segment, and it got old. (4/10) Delirium: GZA and RZA (of the Wu-Tang Clan) are eating at a diner where Bill Murray is a waiter. They try to help him with a cough by suggesting that he cut down on coffee and offering him some herbal medicines. Most of the humor for this one comes from the unlikelihood of an encounter between Murray and the Wu-Tang Clan. However, unlike other throwaway one-joke vignettes, this one excels. It is funny to hear GZA and RZA refer to Murray by his full name. Murray kind of plays the same character he plays in all of his recent movies, so he’s just kind of a gloomy straight man, whereas GZA and RZA provide most of the comedy. (9/10) Cousins?: Alfred Molina meets Steve Coogan in a restaurant. Molina tells Coogan that they are cousins. Coogan continually snubs Molina and generally behaves pretentiously. This one is very funny, but it drags in the middle. The end is funny when Coogan gets his comeuppance. This one made little sense to me because it implied that Coogan was a huge star whereas Molina was just a bit player, but I think that Molina is vastly more well-known than Coogan. (8/10) That gives me a mean score of 6/10 or a median of 7/10. I guess that directly equates to about a 3.5/5. If I were to rate it overall, I would give it a 4/5 probably.
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Jun 8, 2004 21:33
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I give it a 4/5 because while some may drag or not be particularly funny, Molina and Coogan, Waits and Iggy Pop, and RZA, GZA, and Bill Murray are just hilarious. Cousins? especially is great.
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Jun 8, 2004 22:49
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This is an indie movie for indie movie fans. It's incredibly pretentious, exaggerated, and arty. And, in some places, it's absolutely brilliant as well - the first two sketches in particular are very interesting. Unfortunately, it doesn't really move forward from there. Yes, I understand the point that Jarmusch is trying to make, but that point doesn't automatically make for a good film. Some of the sketches in the middle are really unpleasant to watch, and I kept on wishing that they'd either hurry up, or cut to the next short. Overall, I'm giving this three stars. Too much style, and not enough substance.
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Jun 9, 2004 08:47
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How can you people not recognize the brilliant last scene with the two old men? That was great! This movie was worth sitting through just for that scene alone! The scene with alfred molina was great too. Everything else was a little contrived and not so successful. Parts of it were funny. This movie is more like a sketch than a finished idea. I think that's how you have to look at it. summary: I expected Steven Wright to be alot funnier I was bored by the two black twins scene Tom Waits and Iggy Pop shouldn't do movies together The old guy trying to quit smoking was mildly amusing - his son was not Renee likes handguns but not overattentive, horny waiters there would have been 'no problem' if that scene would have been cut out Jack and Meg White need acting lessons Cate Blanchett was entertaining Alfred Molina slam dunks a hollywood snob Bill Murray was just like bill murray Mahler and Champagne go really well with coffee! ajrosales fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Jun 21, 2004 |
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Jun 21, 2004 16:29
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pretty enjoyable and interesting movie. at times it didn't feel like it was real, but for the most part interesting conversations from interesting people. 3/5
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Jun 21, 2004 21:11
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Since I'm a big jarmusch fan (and hence the bias of my review) I had already sought out and seen the first 3 segments which had already been released at various times. If you really came into the film with no knowledge of the subject matter I feel for you. The rest of us went to see it because we appreciate the way jarmusch writes dialog so well suited to his characters (in this, the actual people themselves) that it comes across as adlibbed. You also have to credit jarmusch on his use of black and white. He's no slouch in this area and his makes great use of contrasting colors. Very evident in the blanchett segment. I really liked the film because it presented everyday conversations between people you'd never actually see converse in real situations with both the charm and awkwardness of real life. I didn't find it pretentious at all, but then again I wasn't taking it as a metaphorical context for some struggle in life or something along those lines. Much like say a down by law, it's simply a peek into the window of life. It's just...there. Make of it what you will. Sometimes life is boring, sometimes it's witty, sometimes it's a guy bugging the poo poo out of a pretty girl. For me he conveyed exactly what I expected. 4.5/5
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Jul 5, 2004 05:14
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Champagne was absolutely beautiful and alone probably worth sitting through the whole movie for. In all I did enjoy most of the shorts, but they were punctuated with lovely ones, so I didn't get into it as much as I would have liked to. 4/5
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Nov 6, 2004 05:51
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Delirium was worth 15$ alone. I only paid 10, because that is what movies cost. But I would've paid 15.
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Nov 7, 2004 06:29
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The first time I started watching this film, I turned it off after Strange To Meet You because it was irritating the piss out of me. A little while ago I decided to give it another go and found it a lot better - though that first vignette is still crap in my opinion. People have already identified the strongest segments, my faves being Cousins and Cousins?. Overall, it's not a bad film to dip in and out of, maybe have on in the background while you're actually doing something else and occasionally pay attention to it, but it's nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is. 3/5
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Nov 7, 2004 17:43
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Everyone seems to agree which scenes are the best, but I have to disagree with one. The first scene is absolutely terrible, even worse than Renee. It felt like they'd been stolen from off the street and told to improvise with no preparation. Skip it. Overall 3.5/5 SacrificialGoat fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Jun 17, 2005 |
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Jun 17, 2005 11:13
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Those Things'll Kill Ya, Renee, and No problem are maybe the least memorable for me, but I still enjoyed them. I thought this film was great, and I'd love to see it again. 4.5 from me.
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Jun 17, 2005 19:21
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 08:23 |
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I adore this movie. Everything about it is cool and the dialogue is pitch perfect. Each vignette has it's charm and the cast works brilliantly with one another. I can't say enough great things about this. 5/5
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Jun 21, 2005 07:02
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