Dead Man

Movie Info

Genre(s): Adventure  |  Crime  |  Western

Written by: Jim Jarmusch

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 10, 1996
DVD: July 3, 2001

Running Time: 121 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R

Starring Johnny Depp, Gabriel Byrne, Crispin Glover, Robert Mitchum, Lance Henriksen, John Hurt, Alfred Molina, and Billy Bob Thornton

A young man in search of a fresh start, William Blake (Depp) embarks on an exciting journey to a new town, never realizing the danger that lies ahead. When a heated love triangle ends in double murder, Blake finds himself a wanted man, running scared -- until a mysterious loner teaches him to face the dangers that follow a "dead man." (BV Entertainment)

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What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jakob S gave it a10:
Roger Ebert, certified moron, 'gave' this film a 38. This just goes to show how little critics know about film. This hypnotic, dreamy, black-and-white masterpiece is a culmination of everything I love about film. 10/10 is an understatement.

Tristan M. gave it a10:
Hi Marcus Im only giving this 10 becuase its my favourite movie of all time. I am not a huge fan of Jarmusch's other works generally but i will give him his dues as an artist for producing this masterpiece. * SPOiLIERS * Poetic, beautiful, hilariously black and so amazingly surreal you feel as though floating through one of those beautiful nightmares you have when with a fever. When Wiliam Blake is injured early on it doesnt take much to figure out he is headed for the afterworld with his Indian friend Nobody, or He Who Talks Loud Saying Nothing, as his guide. Blake is a regular joe accountant from the city who is thrust into unlikely and unlikeable situations, not least of all by Nobody, who single-handedly transforms the white man into the visionary poet of the same name. Blake is sorely and deeply injured, suffering from hunger and fatigue. This is his 'quest for vision' as Nobody puts it. The beauty of the film is in Blake's transformation into fearlessness while undergoing this quest, despite events consistently turning for the worst for him. Compare his inital reaction when faced with a gun in Dickinson's office to his coolly poetic execution of the sheriffs. I love Neil Young's soundtrack, beautiful, haunting and twisted. The way he adds chugging effects with repetitive thrumming on his guitar reminds me of the train scene at the start, and i get a feeling the train is a metaphor for the whole film. You know exactly where its going and you cant change direction or lay down more track. One slight criticism is that the soundtrack was overused at times toward the end, and could possibly have used more subtlety. The cinematography is briliant. So many stark and powerful images remain with me after this film, in part due to it being B & W but mostly because of the sheer variety of surreal scenes. This is Johnny Depp at his best, playing the maligned misfit perfectly. He has such enduring consistency to his acting which at times can make him a little predictable, but this role suited him to a tea. Gary Farmer is excellent and very funny as Nobody. The rest of the cast including a host of cameos were also excellent with consistently well-drawn characters. ok, all done. By the way if you like this film and enjoy challenging films I also love 'Requiem for a Dream'. Its definitely not for the faint-hearted though.

Jon M gave it a10:
A real hidden Gem. This film is brilliant, even under the influence.

Marcus A. gave it an8:
I am not going to give this movie a 10, many people think something is great and give it 10 just because they dont want to compromise the film in any way. But I honestly believe an 8 is a realistic rating, Dead Man is unique and beautifully crafted (at the risk of cliched description). Dead Man is something that bolsters dialogue with carefully composed shots, as if each shot and frame were a photograph constructed for us to get taken by one moment that is captured. The movie runs the risk of being over analysed but it does have many underlying conceptual notions, such as the expressions of life and death, Christian inverted ideals and the nature of self discovery and change. Johnny Depp's William Blake is a believable one even in the surreal nature of his quest, and Gary Farmer's Nobody delivers his lines with a sense of lingering emotion as we struggle to catch up and connect to what he has said. If we take the movie as something to focus on conceptually but something that appeals to the visual senses then there is no choice but to be mesmerised. It delves into the nature of American culture, American Indian culture, life, death, and the relationship they all have with each other, these notions ringing true for modern conflicts as well. All whilst we as the viewer question the reality of the main characters situation and wonder these things about life and death yet still try to understand Blake's consciousness and thus the extent his journey endeavours. Each scene ending with a fade as to suggest his fading consciousness and the physicality of his situation, we question whether he is dead or alive or seeking something else. I don’t think a critic without a chosen and conscious nature to denote anything they don’t understand can say that this movie is not on any level brilliant. It has so many layers of meaning that don’t even quite matter if you don’t pick up on because the visual and narrative side expresses enough to keep even the trivial amused.

jw gave it a10:
Sure, give the critics junk movies and they talk a big game about reducing fatty cinematography and artificially sweetened dialogue. But give them something truly healthy and they refuse to eat! ...This is a fantastic movie. For those who love allegory, this one is steeped. Jarmusch hinges the entire Westward Expansion period on the shoulders of just one man, and we follow him (to use an inadequate analogy) as a Forrest Gump of that day. [***SPOILERS***] Hopelessly misplaced for his own purposes, he is crucial to ours, for around him we see the slow conquest of America - not in the absurd pressed-collar gallantry of the Errol Flynn westerns, and neither in the vast and awesome mode of the Shakespearean "Big Country." This film, with its technicolor squeezed out, happens at ground level. It appears to contain every bit of throwaway information left out of all classic westerns. And from the casual train-window massacre of bison to the grim streets of an industrial outpost and the eventual slip into Redwood semiconsciousness, it all feels very near and urgent. A particular scene, when a trio of Indians appear like visions in the forest night is especially eerie and beautiful. The poetry of his namesake inexplicably precedes Blake, as does the price on his head. But he is neither killer nor poet, and these mistaken identities are but two in a series this movie presents in the process of supplanting all of our cardboard Cogburn narratives. Old school fans will delight at the presence of Robert Mitchum, who starred in 1955's "Night of the Hunter," a terrifying prairie thriller with an abstract eye not too far removed from that of a Jarmusch feature. And fans of Johnny Depp will find the origins to many of his now famous tics and mannerisms. Whatever call you think this movie might be sending you, whatever motivation you might have to watch it, by all means - answer.

Nick H. gave it a9:
I hold the belief that most critics are pretentious, hypocritical children out to earn a name for themselves as quote-whoring, hatemongers. I think some of the reviews for Dead Man only help to reinforce this. Could someone explain to me how critics - professional critics who earn salaries from major publications - keep their jobs while using words - like “boringness” - that even a ten year old would never use? I’d love for these failed actors and actresses to pick up a camera and make a better film than Dead Man. But, they never will, they’re all to busy coming up with ‘clever’ quips like “come back to the future” and “bad movies have a way of writing their own epitaphs”. This movie is a hypnotic, entrancing masterpiece. And the fact that so many critics, who praise even slower more drawn out films, find this film to be unbearable due to it’s pacing makes me question their integrity more than I did before. Dead Man is an amazing film, and it only gives another reason for us good, common folk not to trust film critics.

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