Coffee and Cigarettes

Enjoyed this alot. A series of short 'vignettes' starring mostly very well known actors / artists playing themselves but acting out Jim Jarmusch's, playful script. The dialogue is very cutting and awkward, leading to what is basically a series of quirky, cringey, sometimes confrontational discussions.

All scenes involve coffee and cigarettes, and some themes are revisited multiple times. There's a constant notion of black (coffee) and white (cigarettes) throughout. The film is shot in black and white. And the White Stripes are in it.

The standout segment is Alfred Molina claiming Steve Coogan is his cousin. What follows is a brilliantly toe-curling conversation centering on the careerist nature of fame and nepotism.

I just enjoyed spending time with these characters and hearing what they were talking about. I probably could have sat and watched another hour of it.

The best possible combination of laxatives in the history of mankind fuels these eleven goofball conversations between more or less famous people. It’s all about the quality of the dialogues and the cast performances, and it generally delivers. Still, I can’t help finding something truly poetic in the way coffee cups and cigarette packs are scattered on top of checkered tablecloths. It was also cool to find common threads between conversations.