Coffee and Cigarettes

Stalwart independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch practically made his latest effort on coffee breaks, stealing moments over the last two decades to put a couple of people around a black and white checkered table and have them natter: about the Tesla coil (Jack and Meg White), the dentist (Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright) and family relations (Joie and Cinqué Lee, Cate Blancett, Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan). And while each one of these entries has delightful moments, and each one is slightly different in tone and tabletop, watching them all strung together at feature-length does a minor disservice to each piece individually. There is no narrative — they are loosely connected only by the film's title. The DVD, then, would be a perfect opportunity to reorganise these offerings as short films — or at least to present the option — so one could enjoy Iggy Pop sucking up to Tom Waits without having to guiltily skip through the other chapters, nodding your apologies to those you pass by as you race to the penultimate showdown between Wu-Tangers GZA and RZA against the duke of deadpan, Bill Murray. In terms of extras, "Tabletops" (when you notice that yes, they do all seem to be black and white checkerboards, no coincidences from Jarmusch) and the "Bill Murray outtake" are both pretty cheap features, while Taylor Mead's interview only reveals that he's had a longer career than we remember. (He was in Midnight Cowboy.) A bit of a disappointing issue for a great filmmaker and a fascinating little film. (MGM)