Coffee and Cigarettes

Short films with nonsense dialogue of shifting dignity. Lots of self irony or even self sarcasm. Tom Waits is mocking with Iggy Pop in a way that it's hard to believe they ever can talk to each other again. Bill Murray is pulling the leg of the hip hop movement and the movement finds that funny. Cate Blanchett is on a genial level playing the double part of the filmstar and her jealous cousin.

Jim Jarmusch can't be beaten. The dialogue seems to be mostly improvised, but the concept is not. Every short chapter here has a meaning and gives us something to think about. The films are in black and white, like coffee and cigarettes and that still is, and will always be, a way of pushing things harder. This is very much comedy and very much serious.

Talk about an appropriate title.

This is a collection of 11 short stories directed by indie stalwart Jim Jarmusch ("Strangers in Paradise", "Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai") that have been filmed over the last 18 years, all of which involve two or more characters simply sitting at a table, conversing over...yep, coffee and cigarettes.

In the hands of a lesser director that might be extremely boring, but Jarmusch is a master of subtle understatement and great deadpan humor. This may be one of the funniest movies you've ever seen in which no one cracks a smile.

Almost all the actors play themselves, which adds a meta-theatrical, slightly surreal touch to it all.

Among my favorite stories are one in which an overly eager Alfred Molina has a surprise in store for coolly arrogant fellow actor Steve Coogan and a great one in which Cate Blanchett plays both herself and her jealous cousin Shelby. Then there's the one where Tom Waits and Iggy Pop meet in a dive bar to discuss things and have a smoke (to celebrate quitting smoking), Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes experimenting with a Tesla coil, and in the funniest casting, RZA and GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan sharing some downtime with, of all people, Bill Murray. I also like the one with Spike Lee's twin siblings, Joie and Cinque, dealing with an invasive waiter (a hilarious Steve Buscemi). Almost all the stories are excellent, but there are three that are very forgettable and pretty unnecessary, and they're all in a row, which disrupts the flow of the film. If those three had been taken out, "Coffee and Cigarettes" would be just about perfect, but it's still really good. And those three are out of the way in the first half, anyway.

For the first hour the movie feels mainly just like fun. Straight-faced, deadpan, B&W comedy just like "Strangers In Paradise". But as it goes on, and strange connections are made between the stories, it seems to have a sudden dreamlike depth to it.

The final story in particular, in which two old men in a dark room (Bill Rice and Taylor Mead) discuss life while on a coffee break that feels like it'll last forever, has a distinct "Waiting For Godot" feel and ends the movie on a perfect note of haunting, existential sadness.

It was at that point that I realized I hadn't just watched a string of jokey short stories, but a string of jokey short stories that say a lot about human nature and life in general.

And if that's not enough to interest you, how often do you get to see Tom Waits and Iggy Pop have a conversation? Or RZA, GZA, and Bill Murray?

In all honesty I just wanted to watch this movie to see Iggy Pop, Tom Waites, The White stripes and Bill Murray. I was tempted to fast forward all the other vignettes to get to the ones with these characters in but thankfully I never or I would never have seen 'cousins?' -- Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan playing themselves in an absolutely perfect portrayal of the shallow, sickening and repellent nature that comes with fame. Coogan takes the word 'scumbag' to new heights, and Molina's keenness and almost innocence which slowly turns sour is perfectly pitched. Jarmusch has managed to capture the minutia of the trappings of fame so succinctly that sometimes it's difficult to watch. It's excruciatingly embarrassing but just gorgeous and has to be seen -- several times.

Likewise with 'somewhere in California'. Iggy and Tom play themselves but you can call Iggy Jim or Jimmy or Iggy or Jiggy if you like! Tom initially opts to call him Iggy but proceeds to refer to him as Jim throughout, and so the off-kilter banter begins. It's an hilarious portrayal of two guys who obviously have a mutual respect for each other's work but don't actually know each other that well. A series of ridiculous conversations and awkward silences ensue with Iggy becoming more and more animated and expressive to over-compensate for Tom's laidback yet defensive attitude. There are some excellent one-liners and it's just great watching these two giants chew the fat, fighting their different corners and trying to keep their cool.

I also thought Cate Blanchett shone in 'cousins', playing both roles as bitter cousin/ insipid famous cousin. It's another awkward, horrible meeting between two people -- one has made it, the other hasn't, and It's plain to see there isn't much love between them. We witness a series of underhand, loaded and nasty comments all in the guise of friendship, a friendship that only exists due to family ties.

Coffee and cigarettes the movie is a bit like coffee and cigarettes the vice: you'll get a buzz that's for sure. It's is an easy watch and each vignette has its qualities but as a whole it's a bit of a cheeky movie. It gets off on the fact that it has all these fab artists starring in it which goes a long way but not far enough. But I can't stress enough that it really is worth getting this movie out for the Coogan/Molina and Pop/Waites vignettes. Both priceless and essential viewing.

This movie is better than the first reviewer claims. The context of the movie is definitely social, but the humor is only superficially based on the character's real-life celebrity. True, the background music is interesting if you are a film buff. But, take my advice, watch this movies after a couple drinks, at a social gathering, to really enjoy it. The humor is better than in most full length feature comedies. I laughed loud and hard and had a lot of fun when I caught this at the university of Chicago's student movie theater.

the real interest in this film is the social awkwardness created when people meet under false pretense or forced circumstance, versus the natural comfort that is obvious between longtime friends who enjoy each others company.. The gestures and facial expressions by these great actors more than make up for the weaknesses of the film. The brother/sister pairs show boredom and typical familial nit-picking. Iggy and Tom waits are brilliant. buschemi is a little misplaced in the scene where he shows up. my 2 favorite scenes, that i feel show the real genius of jarmusch, are 1.) the moment when molina's gestures have revealed that he is not, as indicated in the first review, a sycophant, but simply an honest and interested human being who is higher up in the scheme of things than the pretentious jerk he tries to befriend; and 2.)the scene where the old guy falls asleep and the camera zooms in on him for a moment, revealing a great moment of humanity.

my impression of the film is that jarmusch wasn't really trying very hard. perhaps i'll be proven wrong and this film will one day be shown to have an understated genius about it, but i doubt it. the film is merely a collection of shorts that jarmusch has been putting together since 1986. the first one was the first one shot and the later ones seem to be filmed more recently (judging by the age of bill murray, and inclusion of alfred molina or meg/jack white, for example), but i can't verify that it was presented in the chronological filming order. at any rate, the film revolves around various people discussing various things over coffee (or tea) and cigarettes. more than anything the film made me want to go to a diner and have a coffee with some apple pie a la mode. unlike 'stranger than paradise' or 'down by law' this film had very little lasting effect on me. i had fun while i was watching it - jarmusch always has a quiet humor to his films, producing more chuckles than outright laughs - but it didn't leave me thinking like some of his others have. i like the molina/coogan and rza/gza/murray shorts the most. i don't mean to give the impression that the film is bad or that i don't like jarmusch because both are incorrect, it's just that jarmusch has done better and the film was mostly good fluff. B-.