Broken Flowers (2005)

3/5

Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers was--remarkably--not as bad as all his other movies. The movie actually held my interest and packs an emotional punch. The plot follows Don Johnston (Murray) on a quest to find an old girlfriend who wrote him a letter telling him he has a son. Watching Broken Flowers, I noticed that he has a unique sense of style that permeates past their dress and into their interactions and mannerisms. His style is not universal or classic, but indie and fickle. I have a feeling that I don't like Jarmusch's older movies for that very reason: they just don't age very well. But I'm finally starting to see the comedy in his films. I think it's all dependent on the actors he chooses, because Bill Murray saves the film with his seemingly effortless comic timing (moreso than Roberto Benigni in Down By Law). Murray somehow matches an apathetic outward demeanor with internal fascination. It is truly remarkable to watch him act.

Be that as it may, I'm not the biggest fan of Jarmusch's filmmaking. He still lingers on shots for far too long when editing, making every shot begin and end 1-2 seconds before and after they should. He frequently fades in and out, both visually and aurally, which probably contributes to the feeling that this movie is more like stop-and-go traffic than fluid, smooth storytelling. It's jagged and stilted, with episodic interludes and minimal overarching structure. This is probably his best movie after Night on Earth, but I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone who isn't already a fan. It will probably be good enough to satisfy Bill Murray fans, however, as he manages to carry the entire project on his shoulders with aplomb.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412019/

Dead Man (1995)

1/5

Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man is one of the most uninteresting, meandering, meaningless movies I've seen since Truffaut's The Soft Skin. I sat there for two hours watching scenes transition to different scenes with the barest semblance of plot or purpose. The movie follows William Blake (Depp) as he makes his way from Cleveland to the West in the late 19th century. He gets mixed up in violence and must go on the run to save his life, but I think the title is meant to insinuate that he is already dead. People who like the movie will tell you it's about a man's transformation in the time of our country's transformation, but I think those people are just seeing stuff that isn't there. Or, perhaps, seeing the bits and pieces of stuff beneath all the garbage piled on top of it.

Johnny Depp kind of reminded me of Guy Pearce in this movie, and I mean that in a bad way. He has dead expressions and no depth. He sounds entirely uninterested in just about everything going on, even when he's supposed to be scared or excited. Regardless of whether his affect is intentional or not, it's simply boring and painful to watch. I don't even want to talk about the dialogue, because I'll just get upset. The script tries to be edgy and badass, but instead it's spoken by what sounds like bad student actors trying to be edgy and badass. Mix this bad acting (or bad directing, I'm honestly not sure which it is) with crappy special effects and cheesy old-time film techniques and you have an entirely laughable production. It's times like these I wish I had waited before burning an entire director's oeuvre until I knew I liked them.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112817/

Down By Law (1986)

2/5

Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law was an utter disappointment. The plot follows three prisoners (Benigni, Waits, Lurie) as they are sent to jail and as they escape. The movie plods along at a laborious pace; reviewers infatuated with Mr. Jarmusch may call it something more flattering like patient or rambling. Whatever you call it, it practically put me to sleep. The acting is atrocious and amateurish, although I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me it was meant to be "realist," "cinéma vérité," or some other elitist excuse for being bad. The actual filmmaking is just as low-quality as the acting. Quite frankly, this whole movie looks and feels like a film school project. And not just any film school project, but the one made by that weird kid who thinks he's got great ideas but everyone else just sees bad execution. The sound capture was pitiful; there was clearly one audio capture device and it was stuck on the front of the camera. And why is it black and white? (Probably ego, to answer my own rhetorical question.) While there was some comedy, I attribute it less to the film as a whole and more to what I can only assume is Mr. Benigni ad-libbing lines. Unless you're a big Jarmusch fan, I would avoid this movie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090967/

Night on Earth (1991)

4.9/5

Night on Earth is a darkly comic drama about five taxi rides occurring simultaneously around the world--in LA, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. It is about chance encounters and the personal connections we make on a human level. It is about the humor in life, and the sadness. The first time I saw this movie, the ending absolutely floored me. This time, I can see the build-up, the gradual integration of the funny and the sobering, and still it hit me hard. I see this movie and I think, this is life. This is an accurate depiction of what humanity is capable of, in all our glory and our shame.

Despite its rather limited setup, the compositions still seem fresh and beautiful. I don't know how Jarmusch did it, but everything looks good and feels right. The writing was pitch-perfect and the acting matched. Unfortunately, the editing seemed off to me. For some reason, it lingered way too much. And it kept breaking the tension by cutting to external shots of the cabs going through the cities. Watching it again, it didn't seem as hilarious as I first remembered, although it was more touching. I cherish this movie, and highly recommend it to anyone who gets the opportunity to see it.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0102536/

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

2/5

Ghost Dog is a very boring movie about a hitman betrayed by his employers. Despite the basic outline, it is not an action movie. Jarmusch takes the trite, overused plot and keeps it trite and overused, without adding anything to it. The story progresses slowly, with many many many worthless scenes and shots of him walking and driving around a city, looking around at stuff. Slowly. Inexorably slowly. There's nothing to get out of this movie, at least, not considering the two hours it took to sit through. And what a painful two hours those were. And I absolutely hated hated hated the blatant and unapologetic homage/theft of the Rashomon concept.

There were actually a lot of things I liked about this movie. I loved how Jarmusch doubled words, events, and character relationships and motivations. I didn't understand its purpose, but found the usage very poetic. The music was exceptional, but every aspect surrounding the use of the music made it so awkward to hear. There was one scene at the end, where a little girl shoots an unloaded gun at a guy, and he stumbles as if actually shot. The ambiguity in that single scene is quite beautiful and would have ended the entire movie on the perfect note. Instead, the movie's actual ending sucked. There were a lot of nice scenes in general, but they don't make up for the slow pace and meaningless, hackneyed plot. Do not waste your time with this movie.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0165798/