Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

"Coffee and Cigarettes"

Helmer Jim Jarmusch has marched to his own tune right

from his Cannes winning feature, "Stranger Than

Paradise," way back in 1983. He continues to follow

his own vision and his latest is a compilation of 11

short vignettes that all have the same theme: "Coffee

and Cigarettes."

The first of this series of kaffee klatch tales,

"Strange to Meet You," was actually made nearly 20

years ago for "Saturday Night Live." Roberto (Roberto

Benigni) and Steven (Steven Wright) meet at a little

coffee shop and, as they smoke cigarettes and slug

down espresso, talk about not much at all.

The second installment, "Twins," has a coffee-gulping,

butt-smoking brother and sister (Cinque Lee and Joie

Lee) lamenting their decision to move to Memphis. They

are joined by an inquisitive waiter (Steve Buscemi)

who notices that they are twins and proceeds to tell

them the story about Elvis's evil twin brother who was

responsible for the King's downfall.

Part three, "Somewhere in California," joins rock

legend Iggy Pop and gravel-voiced Tom Waits as they

discuss music and medicine. Waits regales his friend

with his stories about the emergency roadside surgery

he performed while on the way to their meeting. They

then discuss the beauty of quitting smoking as the

pair suck greedily on the coffin nails they purloin

from an abandoned pack of the table.

"Those Things'll Kill Ya" pairs Joe Rigano and Vinny

Vella meeting and arguing. Joe castigates Vinny for

his continuing smoking habit while Vinny disses his

friend for his caffeine dependency. Meanwhile, Vinny's

son, the mute Vinny Jr., hits his old man up for some

money and comes back with a bag of Japanese peas. Joe

tries one, spits it out and claims he's poisoned.

Vinny tells him that they are a delicacy.

The fifth entry has "Renee" (Renee French) sitting

alone with her cup of coffee, cigarettes and handgun

magazines. She is upset with the Waiter (E.J.

Rodriguez) who, unsolicited, refills her cup and ruins

what was a cuppa of perfect color and temperature.

Number six, "No Problem," is the meeting between

Isaach (Isaach de Bankole) and Alex (Alex Descas,

called for by Alex. Isaach is worried that his friend

is in trouble despite the repeated assurances that

there is no problem at all.

Episode seven, "Cousins," has Cate Blanchett doing

double duty as herself and her cousin, Shelly. Things

get tense as Shelly can barely hide her envy for her

actress cousin's success. Things come to a head when

Shelly realizes that Cate's gift of expensive makeup

is nothing more than "swag" given to the star.

Eight, "Jack Shows Meg his Tesla Coil," stars Jack and

Meg White of the band The White Stripes and their

discourse revolves around Jack's prize possession – a

Tesla machine (look it up on the web). Nikola Testa,

Jack explains before demonstrating his toy, changed

the world with his invention and perceived "the Earth

as a conductor of acoustical resonance."

Number nine, "Cousins?" joins actors Alfred Molina and

Steve Coogan as they get together in LA for tea. They

have only a passing acquaintance but Alfred is all

excited with the discovery that, way back in time,

they are related. Steve resists Alfred's attempt at

filial familiarity – until Alfred gets a phone call.

Then the tables turn.

Part ten, "Delirium," has former Wu-Tang Clan members

GZA and RZA discussing the merits of alternative

medicine and how their lives were made better by

eliminating caffeine. They are joined by Bill Murray,

dressed as a waiter, who offers them some java. They

refuse but he joins in on the discussion, drinking

coffee from the pot. 

Lastly, in number eleven, "Champagne," Taylor (Taylor

Meade) tells Bill (Bill Rice) how he feels like

Mahler's "I've Lost Track of the World," then they

talk about Tesla's machine, earthly acoustical

resonance and compare coffee and champagne.

These eleven little works, as one might expect, are an

uneven collection with the central theme of coffee and

smokes. These aren't earth-shattering subjects and the

strength or weakness of each episode depends on the

inventiveness of the dialogue and the charm of the

players. Shot on grainy black and white film stock,

"Coffee and Cigarettes" definitely has the look of a

Jim Jarmusch effort, utilizing the minimalist style

and deadpan dialogue of "Stranger Than Paradise."

I have a couple of favorites in the "C&C" collection,

topping off with "Cousins?" Alfred Molina's almost

childlike enthusiasm for his lineage discovery is

beautifully opposed by Steve Coogan's droll, cynical

and witty performance. It is quite the pleasure to

watch such talented actors put forth so much

complexity into such a short amount of screen time.

Bill Murray, RZA and GZA provide an unexpected and

funny mix of characters. Why Bill Murray would be

dressed as a waiter and appear to be in hiding is

never explained and, when he starts to slug straight

out of the pot, you forget to even ask the question.

The music men strive to teach Murray about good health

and how coffee can cause delirium. RZA and GZA talk

nonstop, dispensing their wisdom to the always amusing

Bill Murray.

As for the rest of the assembly, if you don't like

one, wait a few minutes. Another will be right along.

Each entry is but a few minutes long and there are

enough good ones that the 96 minute runtime seemed to

fly by. Besides the caffeine and nicotine themes in

every episode there are also other concepts and jokes

that appear time and again. Admonishments about coffee

and cigarettes not being a healthy lunch is shrugged

off be every smoker. Of course, Tesla's machine is

discussed over and again, as is medicine and music.

Techs are simple and no fewer than four lensers

participated in the making of "C&C" – Frederick Elmes,

Ellen Kuras, Robby Muller and Tom DiCillo provide

quite different looks to their individual sequences.

Production designer Mark Friedberg gives each episode

its own unique setting and décor.

"Coffee and Cigarettes" will attract fan's of Jim

Jarmusch's quirky film style and offbeat humor. Some

episodes are better than others and the couple I

mentioned are near worth the price of admission. I

give it a B-.

For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com

robin@reelingreviews.com

laura@reelingreviews.com

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