[An] odd, funny, strangely mesmerizing three-part comedy.
Down by Law (1986)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 25
Fresh: 22
Rotten:3
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Jim Jarmusch's quirky follow-up to his groundbreaking STRANGER THAN PARADISE is a comic fable about finding the American dream in the most unlikely of places. After being thrown out of the house by... Jim Jarmusch's quirky follow-up to his groundbreaking STRANGER THAN PARADISE is a comic fable about finding the American dream in the most unlikely of places. After being thrown out of the house by his girlfriend, Zack (Tom Waits), an out-of-work DJ, takes a job driving a stolen car with a body in the trunk across the state line. He is arrested and put into a cell with Jack (John Lurie), a pimp who's been busted for recruiting a minor. The trio is completed when Roberto (the always hysterical Roberto Benigni), an Italian tourist who is arrested for killing a man while playing cards, joins them in their cell. Eventually, Roberto succeeds in convincing Zack and Jack to break out of jail with him. But when they do, the escapees find themselves lost in the bayou with no salvation in sight. It isn't until they land at the small home of an Italian immigrant (Nicoletta Braschi) that Zack, Jack, and Roberto learn to appreciate the beauty the world has to offer. Robby Muller's gorgeously contrasted black-and-white photography adds an artistic dimension to Jarmusch's film, which only heightens the performances by the three leads. [More]
Starring: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Ellen Barkin
Starring: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Ellen Barkin, Nicoletta Braschi
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Director: Jim Jarmusch
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Reviews for Down by Law
Director-writer Jarmusch's characters are insignificant antiheroes adrift in an America that is both sad and beautiful.
The Jim Jarmusch penchant for off-the-wall characters and odd situations is very much in evidence.
Its soul is the same as all Jarmusch films, but here he digs a bit deeper into the roots of his own methodology and that to which he is opposed.
Consciously more cheerful than Stranger Than Paradise, this movie plays a reversal on the Hollywood comedy in which a high-spirited American usually brings joy to a foreigner; here it's Italian Roberto Benigni who does the job.
After the initial establishment of character and atmosphere, the laughs come thick and fast, most notably from the marvellous [Roberto] Benigni.
The excitement (of Down by Law) comes from the realization that we are seeing a true film maker at work, using film to create a narrative that couldn't exist on the stage or the printed page of a novel.
If you don't know anything about Jarmusch, this DVD is a great place to start.
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