Coffee and Cigarettes

Starring: Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, RZA, GZA

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

RS: 3of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3of 4 Stars

2004 Comedy

The fine, funky cool of Jim Jarmusch permeates this lyrically funny cluster of eleven stories that Jarmusch began filming in 1986. Sure, it's just two or three people bonding over the twin addictions of the title. But Jarmusch makes it a feast that plays like a haunting concept album. I liked some tracks more than others. Bill Murray is hilarious serving java to RZA and GZA; Cate Blanchett scores a tour de force playing herself and her black-sheep cousin; Tom Waits memorably encounters Iggy Pop. Best of all is a chat between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan that slyly sticks it to Hollywood. Jarmusch is still the indie soul incarnate.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Apr 29, 2004)

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Coffee and Cigarettes

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3of 4 Stars

Whatdya want - it's Jarmusch! Okay so the overall concept of similarly-minded artists yakking over fags and java can only bring the kind of boredom that only coffee & cigarettes could ease. It makes me think of an hour of an old lady sitting on a park bench and then watching her drop dead to the ground. There is a definite active search by the audience for meaning, for understanding, and especially, for comedy. The whole thing begs humour, and its lack of humour seems to make the occasionally funny spot into a stroke of genius. My concentration span was almost too short for these vignettes but I manage the whole thing in one sitting. It is not a great, nor even a good film. But don't stop these films from occurring, and don't stop watching them in case the old lady drops dead at the end.

Oct 18, 2006 21:12:24

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