Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - 7.5/10

Jim Jarmusch first made a short film called Coffee and Cigarettes in 1986 with Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright. Then over the next 17 years he made two more installments, part II with Joi and Cinque Lee and Steve Buscemi and part III with Tom Waits and Iggy pop that went on to win the Golden Palm (Best Short Film) at the Cannes Film Festival 1993.

In 2003, he collected these three and eight other vignettes as part of the 2003 release of a full-length film Coffee and Cigarettes. This is a must see for anyone who enjoys Coffee (or for that matter Tea, at least one vignette substitutes Tea for Coffee, and another well it does away with any caffeine altogether that is until Bill Murray walks in with a pot and starts drinking directly from it) or cigarettes or both. This is also recommended for people who don't enjoy any of those things but enjoy brilliant dialogue and comedy. This is a very funny film and also at times has acute observation of human nature. The way people who have become successful in their lives behave (especially in the Alfred Molina / Steve Coogan segment, the Cate Blanchett segment, the Iggy Pop / Tom Waits segment) and how others perceive them to be (Cate Blanchett has a double role as herself and a jealous cousin in one segment). There are some classic conversation moments such as when Steve Buscemi explains his theory about how Elvis is still alive and a wonderful discussion about Nikola Tesla. All this ends up making the film fascinating and entertaining at the same time. People will argue that there is no real point to all this, but any caffeine-junkie (and I can't speak for smokers, because I am not one) will know that that's the point: That caffeine is a great conversation aid (and creative aid, you can see JJ and co. sitting together guzzling infinite cups of Coffee and Tea as they made this), and who says conversation needs to really be about something.

All of the vignettes are good but a couple of them seem to lose direction half-way through, but even that seems like a deliberate reflection of real conversations. My favourites are the Alfred Molina / Steve Coogan, the Cate Blanchett double, the Alex Descas / Isaach De Bankole and the Roberto Benigni / Steven Wright one. Some of the later vignettes refer to some of the earlier ones (which one should know that at the time of the final making where already out and perhaps well-known and therefore part of the conversation of the people in question?) and this adds to the experience of watching the series.

I give it 7.5 for being eminently watchable but lacking anything more than that, and as I said before a couple of the vignettes could use some help. The camera-work is interesting, especially in shots of the coffee-tables from above, and the editing is generally good except in parts. The movie gets an R-rating, for no better reason than the use of fuck and other associated words. Ah! More material for my censorship-bashing. Unless the censors were thinking about the pervasive smoking and matter-of-fact approach to it, but that is a whole another story.