Cast: Steve Buscemi, Bill Murray, Alfred Molina, Cate Blanchett, Iggy Pop
Director: Jim Jarmusch

Simple Leisure

By Amanda Liang • UrbanWire
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Coffee And Cigarettes may not be everyone’s cup of tea, just like, well, coffee and cigarettes. Some, in fact, might find the film too dry, bland or bitter.

Shot in black (coffee) and white (cigarettes), this latest work by indie writer/director Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise) strings together 11 vignettes shot over 17 years as a side project.

4 of the vignettes were shown at various film festivals before 1992, including “Somewhere in California”, starring Tom Waits and Iggy Pop, which won the Best Short Film at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

While the quality is not uniformly stellar, the setting for each vignette is consistent – a coffee table, with 2 or occasionally, 3 characters having a seemingly normal conversation over hot coffee (tea in some stories) and packs of cigarettes.

Tell-tale signs of a director striving to move away from the mainstream include the overtly minimalist feel to the movie and rather unusual camera angles – sometimes showing a bird’s eye view of the coffee table while the characters are speaking. These, together with the bizarre focus on everyday conversations, contribute to the oddity of the film.

The cast is an eclectic ensemble of American stand-up comedians, 90s indie rock duos, Hollywood actors, a 70s punk rocker, and relatives of actor-director Spike Lee, most of whom play themselves.

Most conversations appear to be casual, about subjects sometimes as purposeless as making caffeine popsicles and what Paris was like in the 1920s.

Some of the bite-sized skits feature interesting conversations that border on absurdity and comedy. The coffee session between Jack and Meg White of rock duo the White Stripes, for example, where the siblings’ discussion of physics and scientist Nikola Tesla will inspire some laughs, although Meg seems a much better drummer than actress.

One particularly outstanding vignette was the one where Bill Murray acts as himself trying to evade recognition by hip hop rappers GZA and RZA of Wu-Tang Clan by passing himself off as a waiter. The comedic exchange between the trio revolves around alternative medicine and the actor’s caffeine addiction.

Cate Blanchett shines in her vignette where she plays herself, a blonde, successful actress, as well as Shelly, her bitter, jealous brunette cousin. Blanchett juggles both roles with ease, effectively showing the contrast between the 2 characters and portraying the strain in their relationship.

Another segment worthy of mention is the one where Alfred Molina (Spiderman 2) stars opposite Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People). Up-and-coming star Coogan plays a hostile and arrogant guest to little-known actor Molina, dissing everything American, while the latter tries to illustrate – with family trees – that the 2 are related by blood. Coogan continues playing the role of an aloof star until Molina receives a phone call from a famous director, making Coogan swallow his smugness, while Molina becomes aloof. The story is witty and both actors shine.

Unfortunately, Coffee & Cigarettes suffers from a lack of central plot and action.
The film has its share of uninspiring segments, which won’t impact the viewers much, if they even remember them at all, either because they lack punch, or are jokes that no one gets. A case in point is the exchange between Alex Descas and Isaach De Bankole, who play friends that haven’t met in a long time, and suffer a communication breakdown. Draggy and repetitive, the movie could do without this vignette.

Perhaps, the common message in all the capsules is that every seemingly simple, casual interaction between human beings sparks off some kind of energy, its voltage varying with each situation. A lot can be told about 2 people in just 5 minutes from their dialogues, whether spoken or not.

On the whole, this minimalistic piece fulfils its recreational purpose, just like its titular items, though less addictive, no doubt.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Official Site
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