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Night on Earth

Night on Earth (1991)

tomatometer

60

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

90

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 19,393

My Rating

Movie Info

Jim Jarmusch's deadpan comedy-of-the-night is a collection of five vignettes taking place in the enclosed space of a cab ride, each occurring simultaneously in five different cities and five different time zones -- Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. The Los Angeles episode takes place at dusk, as high-powered casting agent Victoria (Gena Rowlands) gets a ride from L.A. International Airport with tomboy driver Corky (Winona Ryder), who would rather go on driving her cab than

R, 2 hr. 5 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

Sep 4, 2007

Cast

Critic Reviews for Night on Earth

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (6) | DVD (10)

With this, his fourth commercially released feature, Mr. Jarmusch again demonstrates his mastery of comedy of the oblique.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

At the end, we have learned no great lessons and arrived at no thrilling conclusions, but we have shared the community of the night, when people are unbuttoned and vulnerable - more ready to speak about what's really on their minds.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Unfortunately, Jarmusch's lackadaisical minimalist aesthetic and his chronic lack of energy are the only unifying elements.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

"Night on Earth" sounds better than it turns out to be.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Night on Earth dawdles a bit, and a couple of the segments, notably the one in Helsinki, feel like half-baked epiphanies. Throughout, though, there are moments that catch you delightfully off guard.

December 12, 1991 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Takes us to places most other filmmakers never do.

October 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Jarmusch's most accessible exercise to date while also his least seen

February 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

works in both the micro and macro, giving us brief snapshots of humanity and then assembling them into a meaningful collage that puts each story into a shared human context

October 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | Comment
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

Night on Earth is a movie made up of little moments. It's not really out to consider a grand statement about the nature of man or discover the meaning of life.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: DVD Verdict | Comment
Bill Gibron
DVD Verdict

Revisiting his interest in oblique comedy, Jarmusch explores a primal relationship, that of a passenger and taxi driver, using the cab as a temporary shared world, from which one party may emerge shaken up or feeling differently about himself/herself

September 16, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Though it may take a while to get Jarmusch's gist, hang in there; by the time Tom Waits growls his lovely closing waltz over the credits, Jarmusch has shown us moments most filmmakers don't even notice.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment
Geoff Andrew
Time Out Source: Time Out

Almost good, but not quite there.

November 14, 2005 Comment
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Beautiful color cityscapes

August 13, 2005 Comment
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

A clever glimpse of the human condition via taxi drivers and their passengers in five different cities

July 18, 2003 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | Comment
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Flawed by fascinating

August 7, 2002 Comment
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Night on Earth

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With this collection of shorts Jarmusch still has done no wrong. I especially love the first sequence with Gena Rowlands and Winona Ryder as well as the sequence with Giancarlo Esposito and Rosie Perez.

October 27, 2011
Graham Jones
Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

I so don't believe Winona Ryder as a cab driver but I think that's the point.

April 29, 2011
jennifxu
Jennifer Xu

Super Reviewer

Night on Earth Quotes

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    1. Gino: A bishop; he weighs more like a cardinal!
    – Submitted by T William A (6 months ago)
    1. Gino: I shouldn't have told him about the sheep and Monica.
    – Submitted by T William A (6 months ago)
    1. YoYo: Helmet, that's a fucked up name.
    – Submitted by T William A (6 months ago)
    1. Helmut Grokenberger: I was a circus clown.
    – Submitted by T William A (6 months ago)
    1. Helmut Grokenberger: We have the same head.
    – Submitted by T William A (6 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Une nuit sur terre (FR)
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