Critic Reviews
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (186) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Poor
0
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
Click here to listen to the interview with Jim Jarmusch. Are you a bug, Bill Murray?" It's an odd question, but in the context of Jim Jarmusch's brilliant consideration of human interaction, COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, there is both genius and poetry to it. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
Portland Oregonian (Karen Karbo)
Like dark chocolate -- not semi-sweet, but the exotic, nearly black stuff -- Coffee and Cigarettes won't appeal to everyone. Jarmusch is the 70 percent cacao of contemporary filmmakers, and people who love this kind of chocolate swear by it. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Portland Oregonian (Karen Karbo)
Nick's Flick Picks (Nick Davis)
Through all of this is some moodily photographed smoke and a lot of boho posturing, but it's hardly enough to cohere the
film. Is there a more clichéd, more faux-artistic motif in the world than the self-conscious cool of coffee-shop ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Nick's Flick Picks (Nick Davis)
The Cinema Source (Elaine Cedrone)
I just got back from the diner with my friend Samantha, in my first night in my hometown after graduating from college. After such a dramatic, life-changing experience, it was refreshing to just sit with my old friend and do what people at diners ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The Cinema Source (Elaine Cedrone)
The Cinema Source (Elaine Cedrone)
Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Just when you're certain that Jarmusch is treading water with his borderline-tedious cleverness, something happens: Coffee and Cigarettes turns into a movie FULL of talk -- rich, supple, hilarious, masterfully orchestrated talk. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Premiere (Glenn Kenny)
By the end the movie has pretty much ceased taking itself at all seriously, devolving into a nonchalant giggliness of the stoned variety that's completely apropos. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Premiere (Glenn Kenny)
Future Movies (Nik Huggins)
How much time do you devote to your daily addictions? How long do you spend sitting around shooting the breeze? How often do you combine the two? This interrogation is not designed to render purpose to your scatological existence, but if the answers ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Future Movies (Nik Huggins)
Richard A. Zwelling
overall lifestyles. Is there anything similar about us? Is there auniversality that might allow for insights into our complex,stratified society?Count on director Jim Jarmusch to go after a topic like this, albeitwith his tongue planted well inside his ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Richard A. Zwelling
Andy Keast
Blanchett, Steve Buscemi, Steve Coogan, Isaach De Bankolé, Alex Descas, ReneeFrench, GZA, Cinqué Lee, Joie Lee, Taylor Mead, Alfred Molina, Bill Murray,Iggy Pop, Bill Rice, Joe Rigano, RZA, Vinny Vella, Tom Waits, Jack White, MegWhite and Steven ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Andy Keast
Appreciating Great Trash
Baltimore City Paper (Bret McCabe)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Movie Gazette (Anton Bitel)
Eleven smart breaks from everyday reality. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Movie Gazette (Anton Bitel)
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
It's a movie about discomfort and distance, like an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "The Larry Sanders Show" shot in deadpan black-and-white. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
LA Weekly (John Powers)
It's worth fidgeting through the mediocre stuff to get to three good pieces. In one, Cate Blanchett turns in a tour de force as both herself and her aggressive, resentful Aussie cousin in an awkward encounter that captures the pathological relationship ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at LA Weekly (John Powers)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
As the film goes along, themes and even lines of dialogue resurface, and Jarmusch's comic sensibilities grow more assured. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
Time (Richard Schickel)
It feels as if it has been recovered from a time capsule, and what larger meaning it may have is anyone's guess. But it is way cool -- and funny -- in ways that more expensive comedies trying harder rarely are. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
The Hollywood Reporter (Michael Rechtshaffen)
In Jarmusch's capable hands, the mundane has never been so delightful. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The Hollywood Reporter (Michael Rechtshaffen)
New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
What unites everything is Jarmusch’s playful, hang-dog absurdism. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
Los Angeles Times (Manohla Dargis)
Known for an elegant visual style, Jarmusch has a great gift for playing actors against one another, for finding complementary eccentrics (Murray and RZA) and uncovering rare gems (Bill Rice and Taylor Mead in "Champagne"). ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Los Angeles Times (Manohla Dargis)
Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
Jarmusch's use of yin/yang, dark/light and good/evil symbolism makes glorious if goofy sense. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
artechock (Thomas Willmann)
Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Beautifully photographed but very uneven film - the stronger sketches make up for the weaker ones, but the overall effect doesn’t quite work.If you’re a) a Jim Jarmusch fan or b) the sort of person who seeks out short films then it’s entirely possible ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
Coffee and Cigarettes is made up of about a dozen short vignettes shot by writer/director Jim Jarmusch sporadically over the last decade, linked by the basic commonality of discussion over coffee and cigarettes. Some are short, some are long; ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
Boston Herald (James Verniere)
bibloi.com (Boyd van Hoeij)
Steve Rhodes
My favorite episode has Alfred Molina, the actors mainly play themselves, meeting a toobusytobebothered Steve Coogan over tea the British equivalent of coffee. Making nervous small talk, Coogan says that, if he ever wins an Oscar, he'll take his time ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Steve Rhodes
New York Post (Megan Lehmann)
Indie hipster Jarmusch's distinctive brand of effortless cool and quirky humor percolate through each of 11 vignettes, all shot fairly statically in crisp, aesthetically pleasing black and white. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at New York Post (Megan Lehmann)
Chicago Tribune (Mark Caro)
Molina's exchange with the brilliantly insufferable Coogan also is a prime example of Hollywood power-playing, though its punch line is rather obvious. When you get right down to it, so is the enterprise of skewering the superficiality and venality of ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Chicago Tribune (Mark Caro)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
The great scenes are ultimately outnumbered by the forgettable ones, giving the film an unfortunate feeling of tedium. It's worth sticking around to the end, though, if only to see Bill Murray interact with GZA and RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Boston Globe
Jim Jarmusch's new movie features a few more than two dozen people in just less than a dozen shorts, smoking and pontificating over cups of joe. To make sure this is perfectly clear, he's named the whole thing "Coffee and Cigarettes," like ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Boston Globe
Boston Herald (David Brudnoy)
Empire Magazine [UK]
One for the Jarmusch faithful perhaps, but at its best this anthology is as stimulating and addictive as its title. Like a cinematic concept album, there are some middling tracks – but when it hits, it's terrific. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Empire Magazine [UK]
Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
Filmed over a 17-year period, Coffee & Cigarettes links 11 short films together with one common bond: coffee and cigarettes. Jim Jarmusch, the Akron, Ohio-born director of Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai and Down by Law, had been releasing short ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Jarmusch makes it a feast that plays like a haunting concept album. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
A series of vignettes...Some are weak, some are superb -- there's a priceless one with Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan as Brits with different feelings about learning they're cousins -- but they get better as they go along. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Toronto Star
"Cigarettes and coffee, man," Iggy Pop says to Tom Waits."That's a combination."You said it, Iggy, especially when you add the musings of talented eccentrics to the mix.In Coffee And Cigarettes, a movie about people talking about everything and ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Toronto Star
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
The fine, funky cool of Jim Jarmusch permeates this lyrically funny cluster of eleven stories that Jarmusch began filming in 1986. Sure, it's just two or three people bonding over the twin addictions of the title. But Jarmusch makes it a feast that ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Boston Globe (Wesley Morris)
At the heart of most of these encounters is talk about the nature of relationships -- cousins, twins, and peers. Mostly, though, Jarmusch displays an unexpected interest in the ironies and banalities of fame. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Boston Globe (Wesley Morris)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
More uneven stuff from indie film maker Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Ghost Dog) , but when it comes to vignette films, that’s par for the course. Coffee and Cigarettes was over 17 years in the making, off and on, and is basically just a series of small convers ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Jerry Saravia
My favorites include Jake White's ruminations to Meg White on the Nikolas Tesla coil (which he keeps handy), Cate Blanchett as herself and as her envious cousin as their differences become readily apparent, Alfred Molina's discussion on how Steve Coogan ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Jerry Saravia
Baltimore Sun (Chris Kaltenbach)
Sometimes sly and witty, sometimes dull and forced, Coffee and Cigarettes is Jim Jarmusch's testimony to the difficulties and delights of communication. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Baltimore Sun (Chris Kaltenbach)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Sometimes movies tire us by trying too relentlessly to pound us with their brilliance and energy. Here is a movie pitched at about the energy level of a coffee break. That the people are oddly assorted and sometimes very strange is not so very unusual, ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Empire Magazine [UK]
One for the Jarmusch faithful perhaps, but at its best this anthology is as stimulating and addictive as its title. Like a cinematic concept album, there are some middling tracks – but when it hits, it's terrific. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Empire Magazine [UK]
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Jim Jarmusch has been working on "Coffee and Cigarettes" for so long that when he started the project, you could still smoke in a coffee shop. The idea was to gather unexpected ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
The Rewind Forums - DVD Review
Worldwide DVD Forums - DVD Review
Cineclub-Filmkritik
Three Imaginary Girls review (ib Cosmo)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Premiere Magazine (Glenn Kenny)
Premiere Magazine (Glenn Kenny)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Maclean's Magazine (Brian D. Johnson)
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Dan Heaton)
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
The implication that beauty and meaning can be found in odd places at unlikely, idle moments resonates through this lovely film. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Like "Mystery Train" and "Night on Earth," this feature by Jim Jarmusch is a short story collection, but it's funnier and more formally adventurous than either--also ultimately greater than the sum of its parts. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
Although these vignettes are unified visually -- they're all in black-and-white and they all have the same gorgeous, silky visual texture -- they were shot by several different cinematographers. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
DVD Verdict (Patrick Bromley)
Reel Movie Critic (Vittorio J. Carli)
IndependentCritics.com (Richard Propes)
filmdeculte.com (Danielle Chou)
Harvey S. Karten
Jim Jarmusch may see himself as the American AntonChekhov. Though the Russian playwright once said that whena gun is shown in the first act, it will be used by act three,Chekhov's plays rely not on moments of high drama and crisisbut on family ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Harvey S. Karten
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
eye WEEKLY (Joel McConvey)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
Weekly Reviews (Nathan Weinbender) - Capsule
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Trades (Beth Gottfried)
Mediasearch, Australia
Exclaim! (James Keast)
Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
PopMatters (Jesse Hassenger)
Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes is a series of 11 short, dialogue-based scenes, gradually compiled over the past decade or so. A few threads and references turn up throughout, but essentially, the film is about a bunch of different people smoking ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at PopMatters (Jesse Hassenger)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Many will be left scratching their heads at the point of the entire enterprise, but fans of Jarmusch's askew view will clink coffee mugs and toast to the glories of human eccentricity. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Spinning Image (Graeme Clark)
The Film Journal (Justin Remer)
Entertainment Insiders (Warren Curry)
Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
More uneven stuff from indie film maker Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Ghost Dog) , but when it comes to vignette films, that’s par for the course. Coffee and Cigarettes was over 17 years in the making, off and on, and is basically just a series of small convers ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Floatation Suite (Sheila Seacroft)
More of an after dinner brandy than a nicotine or caffeine fix, this black and white film is a series of vignettes, by different sets of actors, based around meetings over cups of coffee and attendant cigarettes. Only 6 of the 11 episodes were made ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Floatation Suite (Sheila Seacroft)
CineScene.com (Mark Netter)
Movie Vault (Friday and Saturday Night Critic)
FromTheBalcony (Bill Clark)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Slant Magazine - DVD Review
Film Monthly (Todd Lillethun)
Reel.com (Pam Grady)
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Film-Forward.com (Kent Turner)
Movies that Bang! (Jordan Hiller)
Close-Up Film (Gavin Bush)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Chicago Tribune (Mark Caro)
The draggy ones make you restless while the best ones, like the movie's title ingredients, provide a buzz that doesn't last long enough. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Chicago Tribune (Mark Caro)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Very slight and, in the early going, slightly annoying, Coffee and Cigarettes is a long-borning Jarmusch project. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Michael Machosky)
The Jim Jarmusch film has become almost a genre unto itself. It's an exercise in raw cinematic minimalism, populated by eccentric characters with obscure motives, and characterized by weird shifts in tone, dry humor and engrossing, ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Michael Machosky)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Reel.com
Coffee and Cigarettes, Jim Jarmusch's latest, is billed as a movie of "bad habits and good conversation." Well, there's little debate over those habits, even if one thing this fragmented film does well is spur a sudden desire for a jolt of caffeine and ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Reel.com
filmcritic.com (Nicholas Schager)
Coffee and cigarettes. What is it about this magical combination of caffeine and cancer that’s so irresistible to millions of café and pub patrons around the world? Despite its title, don’t go looking to Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at filmcritic.com (Nicholas Schager)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
The whole hipster slacker cafe aesthetic - hanging around with a friend or two, inhaling espresso drinks and nicotine - gets celebrated, oh-so-coolly, in Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes. A series of 11 vignettes that range from instantly ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Mixed Reviews (Gabriel Shanks)
Mixed Reviews: The Arts, The World, and More (Gabriel Shanks)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
"I came out of the theater as refreshed as if I were coming out of a coffeehouse." ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
Culture Wars (Nathalie Rothschild)
World Socialist Web Site
World Socialist Web Site
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
stylusmagazine.com (Rob Lott)
Movies into Film.com (N.P. Thompson)
Senses of Cinema (Michael Joshua Rowin)
Variety (Deborah Young)
Holding the film together are simple but strong B&W visuals of offbeat types sitting around a table smoking and drinking java while they talk. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Variety (Deborah Young)
Empire (Ian Freer)
Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina deliver a terrific meditation on insincere actors. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Empire (Ian Freer)
Village Voice (Michael Atkinson)
C&C hardly coalesces, but then again, it doesn't try to--never more or less than what it appears to be, the film is a slow honky-tonk thud-beat, only intermittently punctuated by a joke or idea. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Village Voice (Michael Atkinson)
Film Freak Central
MGM releases Coffee and Cigarettes on DVD in a handsome 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The image is consistently sharp and clean, something I didn't anticipate because of the disparate ages of the source elements. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Film Freak Central
Stop Smiling (Jennifer van der Kwast)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FilmExposed Magazine
CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Carlo Brigante)
About.com: World/Independent Film
Pop Entertainment.com
Xi-online (Ivy Christiani)
Slate (David Edelstein)
Despite glimmers of wit and a hipper-than-thou cast, it's painstakingly smug, and smaller than the sum of its parts. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Slate (David Edelstein)
The New Republic (Stanley Kauffmann)
The best way to watch this film is while sipping coffee in a café. Nicotine optional. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The New Republic (Stanley Kauffmann)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
While sometimes evocative, they don't add up to a satisfying movie any more than, as several characters are cautioned, coffee and cigarettes constitute a healthy lunch. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
The skits that comprise Coffee and Cigarettes aren't fully realized short pieces as much as riffs or fragments; their appeal is mostly in their stars. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
There are exceptions, which reminds the viewer that releasing a couple scenes as short films might have been more fortuitous. Blanchett is terrific in her performance as herself and the twin cousin who's lack of success in life has left the two ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Iggy Pop and Tom Waits in Coffee and CigarettesJim Jarmusch has never been one to toe the line directorially-speaking. His Ghost Dog and Night on Earth are masters of the obscure. Coffee and Cigarettes is classic Jarmusch; an odd and intermittently ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
DVD Clinic ("Indiana Sev")
A series of black & white vignettes, consisting of 2 to 3 actors each, centered around them smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and conversing. Normally this wouldn’t be as pretentious as it sounds, but Jim Jarmusch directed it...so it ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at DVD Clinic ("Indiana Sev")
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
So skip the coffee and cigarettes, and just get back to work. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
DVD Talk (Robert Spuhler)
With such a disjointed feature, it is difficult to recommend it outright because of some of the dead spots. But out of 11 essentially separate short films, eight are worth seeing once and five are worth multiple viewings, so for those scenes it is an ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at DVD Talk (Robert Spuhler)
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Too slight and pointless. ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
The Movie Chicks
Coffee And Cigarettes is a black & white collection of short scenes where two or more people gather to sit, talk, drink coffee, and smoke. What do they talk about? Mostly, how bad it is for you to drink coffee and smoke cigarettes (but it ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at The Movie Chicks
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
MovieFreak.com (Jon Bjorling)
It took Jim Jarmusch 17 years to compile the footage for this film and I feel he should have taken a few more years and tried to make the film look like something other than a glorified film school project. The 11 shorts are boring to watch (strange to ...read the complete Coffee and Cigarettes movie review at MovieFreak.com (Jon Bjorling)
User Reviews
User Comments
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! My Web
Facebook
Google Bookmarks
ma.gnolia
Newsvine
reddit
Windows Live
