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Coffee And Cigarettes (2003)

DVD Cover (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
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Overall Rating 70%
Overall Rating
Ranked #2,084
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A comic series of short vignettes built on one another to create a cumulative effect, as the characters discuss things as diverse as caffeine popsicles, Paris in the '20s, and the use of nicotine as an insecticide--all the while sitting around sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes. As director Jim Jarmusch delves into the normal pace of our world from an extraordinary angle, he shows just how absorbing the obsessions, joys and addictions of life can be, if truly observed. --IMDb
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Review by Crispy
Added: August 29, 2007
I'm really not sure how to go about this one. It's not one cohesive story, but rather eleven short stories. Each skit is in black and white and involves people sitting around a table talking while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, hence the imaginative title. Just for the sake of getting it all in, let's do a quick run through of each skit.

Strange to Meet You
The first skit involves Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright. After meeting in a diner, they sit talking about the joys of coffee and Steven laments about his upcoming trip to the dentist. Roberto's a tad hard to make out due to his accent here, but Steven Wright balances it out by using his characteristic monotone that works so well. It's amazing how he can do so much by doing so little. 8/10

Twins
Joie and Cinqué Lee are sitting in a diner, having a somewhat tense conversation when their waiter, Steve Buscemi takes an unsolicited break and joins them. After asking if they're twins, which they acknowledge, he goes on a long tirade about Elvis Presley's evil twin. I've always been a fan of Buscemi's work, and this skit is no exception. 7/10

Somewhere in California
Iggy Pop and Tom Waits meet in a diner and smoke to celebrate that they quit smoking. Over coffee, they have an awkward conversation about Tom's career. This one is pretty boring, due to the fact that it really doesn't go anywhere. 4/10

Those Things'll Kill Ya
Joseph Rigano and Vinny Vella are sitting in Vinny's home over coffee. As he goes to light up a smoke, he's instantly chastised by Joseph. Before he can defend himself, he has to hide the cigarette from his mute son, Vinny Vella Jr. who walks in a few times to ask his father for money. Maybe it's just me, but I've always found Italians arguing entertaining as hell. 7/10

Renée
Renée French is drinking coffee while looking through a gun magazine. E.J. Rodríguez is her waiter, who gets chastised for refilling her cup since he ruined her perfect ratio of coffee and cream. Despite her obviously wanting to be left alone, he makes a few trips to her table trying to be of service. Again, this one is just too repetitive to be entertaining. 3/10

No Problem
Alex Descas has called his old friend, Isaach De Bankolé to meet at a restaurant to talk over some coffee and cigarettes. We're then treated to five minutes of Issach going "What's your problem? You can talk to me" to Alex replying "I don't have a problem." Made even better by their accents being next to impossible to make out. 2/10

Cousins
Here, Cate Blanchett doubles as herself and her low class cousin, Shelly. Shelly visits her cousin in the lounge of Cate's hotel, where they discuss Shelly's new boyfriend and his band. Although, mildly entertaining due to Shelly's thinly veiled jealousy, this one also falls in the trap of not really going anywhere. Props to Cate for her great work in the dual roll though. 4/10

Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil
Jack and Meg White, of White Stripes fame, have just walked to a local diner for coffee and cigarettes. Jack has brought his homemade Tesla Coil with him, which he demonstrates to Meg after a lengthy conversation about the Tesla's creator, Nikola Tesla. Although I'm not a fan of the Stripes, this skit was actually pretty fun, especially after the last couple. 5/10

Cousins?
Alfred Molina has invited the much more successful actor Steve Coogan to a conversation over tea. During the conversation, Alfred reveals that the two are distant cousins, and they should make a movie about themselves. After coming on just a bit too strong, Coogan tries to tactfully avoid any future meetings with Alfred. Like the first Cousins, most of the entertainment here is found in Coogan's thinly veiled feelings towards his host. 4.5/10

Delirium
GZA and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan meet up in a diner where they used to hang out before their success and drink decaffeinated herbal tea while discussing how unhealthy coffee is. They are thrilled to find their waiter is Bill "Ghostbusting ass Caddyshack" Murray. They fill him in on the health dangers of coffee after watching him drink directly from the pot and give him a few tips to cure his coughing. After the long line of bad to so-so skits, this one was pretty damned good. Probably my favorite out of the lot. 9/10

Champagne
William Rice and Taylor Mead spend their coffee break shooting the breeze, They spend their conversation reminiscing until its time to go back to work. Like most of the previous skits, this one falls due to its lack of direction, although it does fit in well as the last skit of the movie. 4/10

Let's see now. Add them together, carry the one, divide by.... it all averages out to about a 5.5. However, that still doesn't suit it. It loses a lot due to its lack of cohesion as a whole. Sure, a lot of the conversations have overlapping topics (for example, more than a few people bring up that if you drink coffee before bed you'll dream faster) but this hurts it more than helps it in my opinion. By the end of it, I was sick of hearing that coffee and cigarettes are an "unhealthy lunch." Now, maybe I just didn't "get it" but despite a few choice skits here and there, this movie bored me to tears. 3/10.
bluemeanie #1: bluemeanie - added August 29, 2007 at 9:45am
You can always count on the great Jim Marmusch for some strange, strange filmmaking. "Coffee and Cigarettes" was an interested experiment, and some of it worked really well, especially "Strange to Meet You", "Cousins" and "Delirium". Jarmusch uses most of these actors in very bizarre and unexpected ways, which adds to the excitement of it all. Some of them were duds, like "Renee", "No Problem" and "Champagne", but the ones I enjoyed were strong enough to even the film out for me. 6/10.
Tristan #2: Tristan - added August 9, 2009 at 9:01pm
I found this to be a great big borefest. 3/10 from me.
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