Coffee and Cigarettes

Rating:
Summary: Coffee, cigarettes and verbal sparring
Review: Coffee and Cigarettes is not a movie that everyone will like, but fans of Jim Jarmusch may appreciate it as much as I did. This is not a conventional movie, but a series of short conversations between well known people over coffee, mostly in improbably seedy places. The dialogue reminded me a lot of Jarmusch's first film, Stranger Than Paradise; there is an existentialist absurdity to many of the encounters. There is also a fair amount of tension. Most of the conversations are between two people who don't like each other very much, or who are at least are engaged in some kind of power struggle or game of one-upmanship.

Among those that stood out to me --Two English actors, Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina conduct a clever spoof on celebrity egotism. Molina tells Coogan that they may be cousins; Coogan is arrogant and indifferent until he finds out that Molina has Hollywood connections, and then the tables are turned. Tom Waits and Iggy Pop barely conceal their competitive feelings as they verbally spar over trivial topics like quitting cigarettes (both smoke, but claim to have quit). Steve Buscemi, a ubiquitous presence in independent films, is a waiter in a Tennessee diner who imposes himself on a pair of twins ( Joie and Cinqué Lee) and espouses his theory that Elvis was impersonated by an unknown twin brother. Cate Blanchett has a dual role as a celebrity and her resentful cousin. This one really highlights what I liked about the whole movie. You could easily read it either way --seeing Blanchett (the glamorous star) trying her best to be supportive while dealing with an envious relative, OR as a suave celebrity who has mastered the art of polite condescension. The line between the two interpretations is paper thin.

I appreciated the atmosphere of these scenes as much as the dialogue. Shot in black and white, they evoke a kind of noirish simplicity from older films, although the dialogue itself is very postmodern. I found all of the scenes entertaining; the lack of a plot beyond the talk, if anything, added to the charm. It is refreshing to see a film that stands on the actors' performances. Since dialogue is so central here, every word, gesture and nuance becomes filled with meaning. There are no special effects, car chases, shoot-outs or sex scenes to distract us. I can imagine someone criticizing this as being almost an exercise for the actors rather than an actual film, but I found it totally captivating. In fact, contemporary directors and screenwriters would do well to study this as a class in subtle and intelligent dialogue, something many of them could use. I highly recommend this to fans of Jarmusch or anyone who has an ear for offbeat conversation.

Rating:
Summary: Would you like coffee with your cigarettes?
Review: I just saw the latest Jim Jarmusch film "Coffee and Cigarettes" today. I was intrigued bythe film when I first saw the trailer for it when I saw "Dogville" a couple of months ago. I thought it looked very interesting. The film centers around the notion of smoking cigarettes while drinking a cup of coffee. In the film there are a slew of celebrities including Steve Buscemi, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Wu Tang Clan's Rza and Gza, and Alfred Molina. The film is shot in entirety in black and white so it has this grainy feel to the film which really worked out for the best. I couldn't imagine seeing this film in color. There are approximately a dozen vignettes (or close to a dozen) with two or three different celebrities discussing the finer points of smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee or just having a pointless conversation. Steve Buscemi was quite funny as this annoying waiter in a Memphis diner. The only vignette that didn't have more than one celebrity was in "Cousins" with Cate Blanchett who played both herself and her cousin Shelly. That was one of my favorite vignettes. I had a good laugh at the "Cousins?" vignette starring Alfred Molina and Steve Coorgan. It wasn't all comedy until the final vignette where the moviegoer catches some glimpse of bleak and despair where two elderly men are on a coffee break. The dialogue in most of the vignettes were hilarious. I loved the two old Italian men who got into each other's faces over their bad habits, one drank too much coffee and the other smoked too much cigarettes. There were moments in the film that did get on my nerves like the "No Problem" vignette but overall I enjoyed this movie. There may not have been much of a plot but it was refreshing to see a group of actors and musicians be themselves rather than try to pretend to be someone other than themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Check, please!
Review: I read about this film in the lobby of my neigborhood indy movie house, and thought, "Well! That sounds like it could be very interesting!" A series of vignettes all centering on people meeting over coffee and cigarettes. Names you must know, like Cate Blanchett, Alfred Molina, Bill Murray, et al. Concept, yes. Execution, no.

Despite there being so many different actors, almost every vignette was basically the same--one person is trying awfully hard to please or make a good impression on the other, who isn't having it. And, the object of desire is never worth it, either.

The exceptions: Two old Italian guys in a diner somewhere, cursing up a storm at each other. This was very New York and very real; there must be about 1000 longshoremen here just like that. Taylor Meade and another old guy wind up the film as two friends on a coffee break hearing a tune in Taylor's mind. Clever and artful.

But all the rest--even the much lauded Cate as two cousins--were just TOO irritating, I suppose because my own Personal Motto is "Don't cast your pearls before swine." The idea of trying so hard to get a hostile person to like you is anathema to me, sorry, and this whole movie turns on that. The odd thing is that it seems the filmmaker is on the side of the "hip" unpleasant people, so I guess I won't be meeting him for coffee and a biscotti (I don't smoke) any time soon. Misanthropic without a filter.