X
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 47 m
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 47 m
Summary Two innocent people are arrested. An interesting third person, with broken English, joins them in their cell. On his idea, they decide to escape from the prison. Their journey is the rest of the movie.
Directed By: Jim Jarmusch
Written By: Jim Jarmusch
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 47 m
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 47 m
Down by Law
75
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary Two innocent people are arrested. An interesting third person, with broken English, joins them in their cell. On his idea, they decide to escape from the prison. Their journey is the rest of the movie.
Directed By: Jim Jarmusch
Written By: Jim Jarmusch
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
75
75% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
25% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
75
75% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
25% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A stylish black-and-white prison romp with a sense of humour as offbeat as its perfectly cast stars (John Lurie, Roberto Benigni and singer Tom Waits).
The humor of Down by Law is marginally easier to describe than Stranger Than Paradise, but only because, by now, we have a small idea of Jarmusch's style. It's still a kind of humor that evaporates as you try to explain it. Also eluding description is the beauty, the street poetry and the precision of the images caught by Jarmusch and his cameraman, the great Robby Muller, whose black-and-white photography illuminated the early films of Wim Wenders. They have created a dream New Orleans, more succinct and more haunting than the city itself, and Lurie has set it to music.
The excitement of Down by Law comes not from what it's about. Reduced to its plot, it is very slight. But the plot isn't the point. The excitement comes from the realization that we are seeing a true film maker at work, using film to create a narrative that couldn't exist on the stage or the printed page of a novel.
As with the Jarmusch’s best work, it is kept simple and taken very slowly and is just sort of allowed to happen. The magic lies in the lulls.
The Jim Jarmusch penchant for off-the-wall characters and odd situations is very much in evidence. The black-and-white photography is a major plus, and so is John Lurie’s score, with songs by Tom Waits. Both men are fine in their respective roles, but Benigni steals the film.
Jarmusch's passive style has its wit, but the style is deadening here until he brings in Roberto--a character out of folk humor. And without the boredom of the first three-quarters of an hour Roberto wouldn't be so funny.
Jarmusch likes to make movies that are slow and desultory and unresolved, and to beat him over the head with his vision would be unfair. In Down by Law, he's made that kind of movie, but he's worked from the outside in. He's made a Jim Jarmusch film instead of just making a film; his self-consciousness leaves you at arm's length.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
7.4
82% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
7.4
82% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 4 Nominations
Bodil Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
