Customer Reviews
I ENJOYED THIS A LOT - By: stuart, 08 Nov 2007 
--Mild spoilers--
I haven't seen a single Jarmusch before this & have no knowledge or his style whatsoever, nor have I smoked a cigarette while drinking coffee, but I enjoyed this film immensely.
It doesn't purport to speak of grandiose themes & epic emotions, nor does it go out of its way to be deliberately offbeat & quirky; the audience has no emotional attachment to the characters & there is no plot in most of the vignettes. So what puts this film above alll the pretentiously shot black-and-white art-house crap that is slugged out every year? For one thing, it is reallly funny. From its expressionistic colors to the dialog that proudly smacks of absurdist humor, this film is like a breeze of cool air, utterly enjoyable from the first reel to the last that does not cloy on to the heart, but is very unforgettable.
Ultimately, its unobtrusive absurdist humor, which provokes chuckles instead of heartily laughs, serves to prove the Pinter-esquire themes of the futility of communication. We get a sense that the characters are isolated & desperately trying to touch each other through their speech but ultimately failing to do so; & yet, through their manic speech patterns & delirious pauses, what is unsaid speaks more than what is said itself. While this unconventional style of humor is often difficult to pull off as it might fast become monotonous (as evident in a recent stage production of The Caretaker that I saw), Jarmusch's deft direction with his actors (from their gestures to the way they hold their coffee cups) pushes forth the humor & carries it on steadily throughout the entire film.
It is hard to say much about a film who has nothing much to say. As in my favorite segment, 'No Problem', the one with the two French black guys, their dialog only serves to underscore the meaningless & nothingness of communication. What is scary about it is that it is so accurate, that these type of conversations, however ridiculous & absurd when portrayed on screen, often typifies our daily conversations. It depresses me sometimes that human communication can be easily reduced to alll these, & this film makes the point entirely clear.
So it definitely comes as a relief, that as a conclusion, the relatively more heart-warming vignette with the two old guys (Champagne) was chosen. Not only does it touches lightly on the recurring 'acoustic resonance' theme, it also hints that we may in fact touch each other, through common music or through a common idea. And it just happens that that common song was 'I have Lost Track of the World' by Gustav Mahler, an amazing piece by an amazing composer that I have just recently began to love, a delightful moment which shows that although we are as disconnected at the different vignettes in the movie, it is comforting to know that we are still united in some weird cosmic way, like this forum here. And like the two old guys, after our coffee & cigarette break in which we step into an odd world that is not reallly unfamiliar, we would have to step back in to the real world again. But it doesn't hurt to have a little nap in between & pretend bad coffee is champagne.
Classic Jarmusch - By: Rachel Jones, 21 May 2007 
Funny, beautifully filmed in black & white, & a little eccentric. Don't expect plot, it's a quiet pondering film with no real direction. The point isn't where it takes you but to enjoy travelling with it. It may not convert anyone who isn't already a Jarmusch fan but it should entertain arthouse & indie enthusiasts.
Definitely worth buying if only for the conversation between Tom Waits & Iggy Pop.
Not for everyone, but a fun experiment - By: Franklin T Marmoset, 14 Dec 2006 This Coffee And Cigarettes is not one of Jim Jarmusch's best. For that, I'd recommend Down By Law, Ghost Dog, Stranger Than Paradise, or the recent Broken Flowers. What this one is is a series of vignettes loosely strung around the concept of people meeting & talking over coffee & cigarettes. There's no story as such, & some of the shorts don't even have much of a point, but taken as a whole it's a pretty enjoyable film.
Everyone's favourites will differ, but I liked very much the segments with Tom Waits & Iggy Pop, Bill Murray & GZA & RZA, Jack & Meg White, & Cate Blanchett & Cate Blanchett. Also, the one with Alfred Molina & Steve Coogan was a pretty funny surprise, especiallly since they (as fellow Englishmen) have tea instead of coffee.
Recommended to those with some patience who don't mind a meandering, slightly aimless film. There are no explosions in this one.
One for a quiet night - By: J. S. Meins, 29 Jun 2006 A series of comedic sketches, filmed in arty black & white & revolving around the subject of coffee & cigarettes, some more successfully than others. The best ones for me were where the actors played mad caricatures of themselves; Jack White (brilliantly Johnny Depp-ish) describing a scientific device to Meg (usual bored Meg-ish performance), Steve Coogan & Alfred Molina in a very English, excruciatingly embarrassing sketch about the pitfallls of Hollywood & Cate Blanchett in an awkward meeting with a long lost cousin (also played by her). Elsewhere Roberto Benigni & Steve Wright cracked me up as a pair of coffee junkies & Steve Buscemi & Iggy Pop provided brief moments of humour. Strangely, the only real disappointment comes from Bill Murray with a lazy performance. A word of warning, don't watch this with a crowd of people, it's too slight a film to provide mass entertainment - one for a quiet night.
Cate Blanchett is great and then .. OH Dear! - By: pointone, 14 Jan 2006 
Jim Jarmusch seems to like creating a feature film from a series of shorts & this one is similar to “Mystery Train”, one great short & then everything else is downhill.
However other people see this movie differently, finding it funny, deep, moving , meaningful, engaging & pretentious among other things.
I can only conclude it is a film that works on the viewers enabling them to create their own interpretation, however I find it none of these things, except for the superb “Cousins” where Cate Blanchett plays both cousins simultaneously it is just meaningless chit chat.
However it is probably worth renting for the Cate Blanchett sketch which stays in the mind, undoubtedly the most convincing case of one person playing both parts in a conversation I have ever seen.
