More complex than it's given credit for...

Rating: 7/10 (25 March 2005)

This film has been too easily dismissed as a 'silly film', a 'boring film', a film that is 'lean on plot'...I think that many of the critics of this film have simply missed the point. This film is NOT about plot, action, slapstick or any of the other mainstream, blockbuster ideas that have filtered into our minds as the 'right' way to shoot a film. Have we become so Pavlovian that our films must hit every clichéd moment and provide us with frenzied pacing, and non-stop action, sight gags and toilet humour?
This film is filled with layers - complex ideas and connections between the vignettes that are masked by a surface that SEEMS shallow, but when you look at it a bit, LISTEN to the dialogue and think about what the actors are saying (or not saying) you'll realize that the characters, and the vignettes, are offering a little more than banal coffee-talk.
This isn't Jarmusch's best film, but it's certainly one of his most interesting, and the film's layers of complexity began to hit me as I had a post-film conversation.
Two simple rules before you see this film:
1) Don't expect a fast-moving, action-filled film. This film will seem agonizing to anyone who has no patience for quality, dialogue-heavy films that are about what's being said rather than what's being blown-up.
2) Don't go see this if you don't like Jim Jarmusch, Hal Hartley, Richard Linklater, Allison Anders, Audrey Wells, Atom Egoyan - or any filmmaker who focuses on complex ideas, ignore Hollywood mainstream, and doesn't often concern themselves with 'plot' or 'story' as much as 'idea' and 'film'
There is a high level of irony in Coffee and Cigarettes, a message apparent within the vignettes that one should dig deeply beyond the surface of things and into what someone or something is really saying. Looking at the Steve Coogan/Alfred Molina vignette, the double-Cate vignette, and the Renée vignette, this message is abundantly clear. As well, there is a deep connection between many of the vignettes - bits of dialogue, and of event, that are drawn together through the philosophy of Tesla (whom Jarmusch adores) and through the final, touching 'Champagne' vignette.
Some of the vignettes are a little rough - the original Benigni/Wright SNL vignette for example, and the Twins vignette as well. But they hold up as a nice and light introduction to the film, which beings to get much more complex as more and more is said to us. This allows the viewer to ease into the film more capably, than if we were forced into the more poignant scenes from the beginning.
In the end, there are some flaws in this film; and not every vignette is superb, but viewers who take the time to look past the surface should truly enjoy the experience. 7.5/10.