Down by Law

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Down by Law

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Down by Law

Billie Neal, Ellen Barkin, John Lurie, Joy N. Houck Jr, L.C. Drane

Jim Jarmusch follows his groundbreaking Stranger Than Paradise with another rambling, character-driven film with a twisted sense of humor. Set in a seedy New Orleans summer, Down By Law details the me...( read more  read more... )eting of three unlikely convicts and their just as unlikely escape. Zack (Tom Waits) is an out-of-work DJ who is accused of murder when a body is found in the trunk of a stolen car he was hired to drive across town. Jack (John Lurie) is a pimp set up for a fall by a competitor. These two sullen souls are locked in a cell with Roberto (Roberto Benigni), a cheerful Italian immigrant who happens to have killed a man. The chemistry between the members of this loosely bound team is fascinating: Zack and Jack are forever laughing at Roberto, yet they rely on his energy and good will to escape their dire situation. The three mismatched miscreants eventually bust out of jail and head into the Louisiana bayous. Tired and hungry, they separate to search for food: Waits goes one way, Lurie another, and the frightened Benigni decides to risk stepping into a ramshackle diner. Somehow or other, he winds up in the arms of gorgeous Italian girl Nicoletta Braschi -- and is even able to provide new clothes and escape routes for his astonished comrades! ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide

Id: 9812527

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Down by Law Recent Reviews
  • ebs90
    December 26, 2009
    ebs90

    Down by Law is a comedy about three "innocent" men breaking out of prison. The important thing is not the escape, it's the trail of situations that they leave behind as they go. Jarmusch's humor consists on portraying with amazing naturality the awkwardness of the interaction

    ...( read more)between these three inmates who may or may not like each other very much, but who are too concerned (or at least so they think) with safekeeping their privacy and getting out to give each other much thought.

    Cool is a basic word. And a basic theme. Not only are these scenes written and filmed with a great sense of 'coolness', which translates as the perfect distance between the spectators and the characters, but the two American characters themselves are consistently preoccupied about remaining, at all times, cool.


    Jack (John Lurie) and Zack (Tom Waits) live in New Orleans; Jack is a pimp and Zack is a DJ. Both seem to lead lives that could be very torrid, but they are, on the contrary, kind of bored with them. In a very Jarmusch style, they need a change. And they find it traveling, although not quite as they might have expected: both get accused of crimes they didn't commit. They could defend themselves, but they don't, because they just don't care, so they get sent to prison. They share a cell in which their two strong-minded personas clash over and over, until an odd Italian named Roberto -the one real criminal of the trio- gets locked in with them.


    Roberto's loud, careless personality gives Jack and Zack a jolt, and puts them in a concealed state of complicity to amuse themselves with him -but not too much, of course. However, soon they find that Roberto has a plan to escape. And so they break out and start a tedious yet hilarious journey across the marshes and dirt roads of Louisiana. All the while wearing suits that read Orleans Parish Prison.


    The truth is that Jack, Zack and Roberto don't appear to regard each other very much. They don't show any signs of really caring, except when they're caught up in discussions about absurd subjects. Their journey develops as they make sudden, impulsive decisions about where to go after a fight. These are the moments that can make you laugh out loud: not quite the situations, but the attitudes, their ridiculous efforts to project leadership, and how they always end up getting pulled together into disaster despite their wish to go separate ways.


    Of course, by the end, there's a bond between them that many miles of disagreements couldn't possibly have prevented. But the great thing about how Jarmusch depicts this is that he never addresses it directly. It shows by the end in the way they insult each other -they couldn't just all of a sudden engage in a group hug!


    Without a doubt, Down by Law has a terrific screenplay. Roberto Begnini has the funniest, most absurd lines, but Jack and Zack's characters have all the necessary bite and self-consciousness -and cool- to become equally engaging characters. However, almost the same amount of credit has to be given to Begnini, Tom Waits, and John Lurie, for their excellent facial expressions, comedic timing, and overall smoothness. Although one could probably guess Jarmusch tailored the characters especially for his friends, it isn't less true that they reciprocated the honor with their best performances.


    There's a great deal of talent involved in this movie, combined -fortunately- with elegance and a clear head. John Lurie's music, Tom Waits's songs, and the brilliant cinematography make this film a stylistic gem. It's so helplessly Jarmusch. So helplessly cool. An entertaining story of human interaction, just like Stranger in Paradise, but with a slightly more cheerful, or at least defined, outlook.
  • SirPant
    August 27, 2009
    SirPant
    I scream, we scream, we all scream for ice cream! This is by far the funniest prison break film ever. The three leads are on impeccably good form and, I know I've said it before, but Jarmusch is the coolest filmmaker alive. I can't think of a more suitable word that could describ...( read more)e him as well.
  • doboy1
    September 24, 2008
    doboy1
    Not your average film. Jarmusch is the master of low-budget film making.
  • johnd62
    March 7, 2008
    johnd62
    Jim Jarmusch and Tom Waits all in one of the best prison movies of all time. Although now that I've mentioned those 2 names that just means anyone who liked 10,000 B.C will never see this movie in there life. You know what though I don't care any movie this brilliant in style and...( read more) storytelling doesn't deserve to have idiots complain about how boring it is.
  • kenstachnik
    December 2, 2007
    kenstachnik
    Endlessly watchable. Benigni is the shit in this movie.
  • MajorWhitlock
    January 7, 2010
    MajorWhitlock
    Had to watch it for a film class. Semi-interesting.
  • pantalla9
    January 2, 2010
    pantalla9
    Jim Jarmusch es capaz de moverse con una insólita facilidad dentro de cualquier género cinematográfico posible. Basta ver una de sus primeras películas, como Down by Law (1986), para darse cuenta que casi no hay imposibles para Jarmusch. En esta película, el realizador norteameri...( read more)cano rompe la fórmula clásica de las buddy movies, donde no son dos sino tres personajes, diametralmente opuestos, los que tendrán que formar forzadamente un equipo de prófugos, que han caído en prisión por trampas que les ha tendido el destino.

    Todo está envuelto en su primera parte en un formato de film noir, gracias a la bella fotografía en blanco y negro de Robby Müller, con un relato ambientado en una Nueva Orleáns irreconocible. Una Nueva Orleáns poblada de prostitutas, mafiosos y locutores de radio aficionados al alcohol. Jamás he sido admirador del actor/comediante italiano Roberto Benigni o de sus películas, pero debo reconocer que aquí se roba la película como un torpe pero bienintencionado tipo. Su personaje está más allá de toda probabilidad de encontrarse en un escenario de este tipo, pero ahí está, y caerá en prisión junto al desafortunado DJ, Zack (Tom Waits ¿quién más?) y un proxeneta venido a menos, Jack (John Lurie). Robert (Benigni), es un ?homicida imprudencial?, que llega para traerle suerte a los otros dos e ?iluminar? su camino, con su carisma y personalidad extrovertida, hablando un pésimo inglés pero ganándose su confianza.
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  • kurosawian
    December 13, 2009
    kurosawian
    Hands down, Jarmusch's funniest film. Memorable characters are thrown into absurd situations. Tom Waits rocks my world. In typical fashion, there is very little plot, instead we get extended moments where characters are never sure what to say to each other. How does Jarmusch make...( read more) it all so entertaining? It helps when you have Muller as cinematographer.
  • hanmartin
    November 30, 2009
    hanmartin
    Pure joy! It's almost pitch perfect. Must be one of Jarmusch's best films and it will stay that way. Accompanied by Tom Waits' great songs and John Lurie's music as well as their superb acting it's nothing but a winner. Robert Benigni is impressing also.
  • Phonex
    November 23, 2009
    Phonex
    J.J, one of leading, the most respectful , independent American film makers. Very important one 4 me.
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