Saturday, July 26, 2008

Of course no one in jail is guilty!

Down by Law
(1986, Jim Jarmusch)

Losers get a bit more than they deserve.

A bit fantastic in the second sense of the definition. Lots of panning, mostly to good effect, but somewhat old or ho-hum in execution at parts. Acting wavers betwixt believable and teleprompt. Little middle ground in this film. Any given scene is either "on" or "off." Which makes the film intensely satisfying and "wow I should just turn this off now" at the same time which then of course therefore by extension hurts the piece overall. Very much a rough draft in filmmage centering around character study, yet not entirely sure this particular piece could ever be brought to full polish. A bit too art student in the undercurrents of flavor.

I would never recommend this film, but I would not discourage it either.

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