Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jarmusch brings the audience addictive Nicotine and Caffeine, October 12, 2004
Coffee and Cigarettes was initiated in 1986 when Jim Jarmusch shot the first skit in black and white with Roberto Benigni as Bob and Steven Wright as Steven. The second scene was shot in 1989 with the twins, Cinqué Lee and Joie Lee, and the waiter Steve Buscemi where they discuss Elvis and the oppression of African-American musicians. The third piece was filmed in 1993 with Tom Waits and Iggy Pop meeting in a Californian bar where the two get together. This suggests that Jarmusch has been working on this idea for some years and there is much more to it than what meets the eye. The culmination of Coffee and Cigarettes came when all the 11 skits were put together in a film in 2003 for the audience to experience and ponder.
Self medicated existential philosophy, awkward dialogues with moments of silence, human connection, and health conscience characters drive the story of Coffee and Cigarettes where Jim Jarmusch displays 11 disjointed vignettes all set in different milieus. What ties the 11 incoherent skits together are the coffee and the cigarettes as they function as a brief opportunity for human connection away from time and responsibilities. The characters continue to inhale the nicotine and consume the caffeine during their meetings in order to stay alert and rid any slight hint of social anxiety. Yet, all the characters remain uncomfortable with one another as silence and meaningless conversation seems to fill their time cramped lives. This creates a socially symbolic oxymoron where the coffee and cigarettes are suppose to function as the key to human connection, but instead these two social drugs for self-treatment of anxiety and sleepiness become an impenetrable unfriendly wall.
There are several highlights in Coffee and Cigarettes as the film has a brilliant cast that occasionally seems to improvise. In addition, the characters in the film often play themselves in an invented situation, which enhances the authentic atmosphere around the characters as they sit down around a small table for coffee and cigarettes. Cate Blanchett's dual performance is dazzling as she presents a rich, famous and successful performer and her envious poor cousin. The connection between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan brings the viewer gleeful vengeance as the two are apparently distant relatives. All the skits offer humor, insight, and some irony as they continue to inhale their nicotine and drink their caffeine leading to a terrific cinematic experience.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Coffee, cigarettes and verbal sparring, July 19, 2004
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.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
not for the faint of brain, July 7, 2005
let me say, that i loved this movie. i loved it as a whole. i did not "love" every part of it. I think the part with Tom Waits & Iggy Pop is brilliantly awkward. I think Cate Blanchett can do no wrong. I enjoyed seeing someone else who feels that Nikola Tesla was awesomely bizarre (thanks Jack). I mean, don't get me wrong, some vignettes dragged, but others more than made up for it. When a scene was dragging on me, i just drifted off and enjoyed the cinematography. This movie is very much a "different" experience. With the kinda free-flow dialouge that makes movies by Robert Altman and Richard Linklater so endearing. And a shoulder shrugging hipness that makes Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson some of my personal favorites. This movie reminds me that Jim Jarmusch is a curious observer, just like me, and that he isn't just an aloof director, but that he experiences the pieces much like we do. He's our friend or guide, like in a Walt Whitman poem. But then again, i suppose this movie isn't for everyone. There is no plot to follow, and its not a particularly "flashy" film. It's not even terrible experimental in terms of concept. But i am glad that this is the case, cos oft times that type of stuff borders on pretention when in the wrong hands. The only really "challenge" this film poses, is the challenge of the way you choose to participate in it. I would enjoy seeing more of this kind of filmmaking cos i think it is a welcome change of pace from the "falsh/bang" of hollywood. Or maybe i just really like coffee....
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