Review: Coffee and Cigarettes (***)
 

COFFEE AND CIGARETTES
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ***


Wouldn't you love to see a series of screen tests by a bunch of good actors?
Jim Jarmusch's COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, a series of vignettes whose only
common theme is that of coffee and cigarettes, plays like a group of actors
giving their best effort for ten minutes or so in order to win some coveted
role. These aren't audition tapes, but the actors really do give it their
comedic all. The movie is shot strictly in black and white, just like my
favorite Jarmusch film, DEAD MAN, a bizarre Western starring Johnny Depp.
It's a weird, must-see picture for cinema buffs.



Although the eclectic list is long, the actors in COFFEE AND CIGARETTES
include Roberto Benigni, Cate Blanchett, Steve Buscemi, Bill Murray and Iggy
Pop. Another recurring theme in the wacky stories, full of deliciously dry
humor, is about "earth as a conductor of acoustical resonance." Don't ask.
I'll never be able to explain it to you.



My favorite episode has Alfred Molina, the actors mainly play themselves,
meeting a too-busy-to-be-bothered Steve Coogan over tea -- the British
equivalent of coffee. Making nervous small talk, Coogan says that, if he
ever wins an Oscar, he'll take his time on stage to teach Americans how to
make a decent cup of tea. A pompous Coogan wants to drink his tea and
leave, but Molina has a big secret to tell him. Using genealogical
research, Molina has determined that they are cousins since they share a
common great-great-great-grandfather. Since they're related, maybe they
should make a movie about it and play themselves in it, reasons Molina.
Coogan, obviously ready to bolt, has only one question. He wants to know if
Molina is gay, which he says he isn't. The best line comes when Coogan
refuses to give out his home phone number. "I once didn't give my number to
Sam Mendes," he tells Molina.



Another segment discusses the effects of coffee on the body. One guy says
that he takes it right before bed, which makes his dreams speed by like Indy
500 racecars. He has a piece of advice for Bill Murray, which you probably
shouldn't practice at home -- oven cleaner can be used as a treatment for
smoker's cough. Still, this thought might make the basis for an effective
public service announcement against the hazards of smoking. If you had to
spray oven cleaner in your mouth to cure your cough, maybe fewer kids would
get hooked on tobacco.



COFFEE AND CIGARETTES runs 1:36. It is rated R for "language" and would be
acceptable for teenagers.



The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the
Silicon Valley, it is showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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