Independent filmmaking grandfather Jim Jarmusch conceives the laziest and most tiring movie of his career with a series of vignettes calculated around celebrities talking over coffee and cigarettes.
Coffee and Cigarettes (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 115
Fresh: 72
Rotten:43
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Consensus: Episodes vary in quality, but overall this talky film is quirkily engaging.
Theatrical Release:May 14, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $1,971,135
Synopsis: Jim Jarmusch has consistently wowed audiences with his truly distinctive cinematic vision. Shot over the course of a 17-year-period, COFFEE AND CIGARETTES proves once again that Jarmusch is a true... Jim Jarmusch has consistently wowed audiences with his truly distinctive cinematic vision. Shot over the course of a 17-year-period, COFFEE AND CIGARETTES proves once again that Jarmusch is a true original. This time around, the director tries his hand at the short film genre, delivering 11 shorts that are all based around the seemingly insignificant acts of drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. In the first short, "Strange to Meet You," Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni discuss the perks of cigarettes and coffee. In "Somewhere in California," Iggy Pop nervously tries to befriend Tom Waits, who decides that he can have a cigarette because he just quit. Cate Blanchett delivers a towering dual-role performance in "Cousins," playing both her Hollywood superstar self as well as her bitter cousin. In a similarly titled yet totally different short, Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan are brilliant in "Cousins?" And then there is "Delirium," one of the best short films ever made, in which Rappers Rza and Gza (Wu-Tang Clan) discover that Bill Murray is a coffee addict, and they use their expertise to preach to him the benefits of alternative medicine. Jarmusch builds to a poetic conclusion and the film is shot in an artistic black-and-white, making COFFEE AND CIGARETTES both an impressive work and a lighthearted, yet genuine, tribute to the art of smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. [More]
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Joie Lee, Cinque Lee
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Joie Lee, Cinque Lee, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Joe Rigano, Vinnie Vella, Vinny Vella, Renee French, E.J. Rodriguez, Alex Descas, Isaach de Bankole, Cate Blanchett, Jack White, Meg White, GZA, RZA, Bill Murray, Alfred Molina, Steve Coogan, Bill Rice, Taylor Mead
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Screenwriter: Jim Jarmusch
Producer: Joana Vicente, Jason Kliot
Studio: MGM/UA
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Reviews for Coffee and Cigarettes
A little less than half of the film worked for me, which cannot justify a recommendation.
Between the wry trademark Jarmusch deadpan humor (and there is quite a bit of it) and the great cast, this one is worth a look, particularly for those already in the Jarmusch camp.
No matter how respected a celebrity is, watching him or her jabber about caffeine’s stimulative power is not revealing.
Coffee and Cigarettes feels thin and slight at times.... But at its best, the movie achieves the charm and delight that underscores Jarmusch’s best work
Arranged in short episodes, each composed entirely of awkward and embarassed conversation between midlevel celebs, Coffee and Cigarettes entertains fitfully.
Falls flat as often as it makes magic, the cumulative effect as comforting as a night spent at your coffee shop taking in humanity’s endlessly colourful social exchanges.
there are some amazing standout performances (Cate Blanchett, Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan). Otherwise, it's just a bit of diverting fluff.
Latest News for Coffee and Cigarettes
June 08, 2005:
Stiller & Coogan to Become DreamWorks' "Persuaders"
Ben Stiller ("Along Came Polly") and Steve Coogan ("Coffee and Cigarettes") will co-star in DreamWorks "The Persuaders," says Variety. Based on the... More...
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