Down By Law [VHS]
by Jim Jarmusch
![Down By Law [VHS]](/images/Down-By-Law-VHS-630383261X-L.jpg)
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Ellen Barkin, John Lurie, Nicoletta Braschi, Roberto Benigni, Tom WaitsDirector: Jim Jarmusch
Writer: Jim Jarmusch
Producer: Alan Kleinberg
Producer: Cary Brokaw
Producer: Jim Stark
Producer: Otto Grokenberger
Producer: Russell Schwartz
Producer: Tom Rothman
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language); Italian (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 107 minutes
Release Date: 1997-02-11
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Polygram Video
Studio: Polygram Video
VHS Movie Reviews of Down By Law [VHS]
Movie Review: A fine work of the independent American scene which unexpectedly evolves from drama to absurdism
Summary: 4 Stars
Jim Jarmusch's DOWN BY LAW is one of the arthouse productions that the American director made his name with in the 1980s. As the film opens, we see how a small-town pimp (John Lurie) and an itinerant DJ (Tom Waits) get themselves arrested after they've each accepted a job from a seedy friend. They subsequently end up sharing a jail cell, into which one day an Italian immigrant (Roberto Benigni) is also placed. The plot of the film is the developing camaraderie between these three men. The Italian's bumbling antics act initially aggrevate his cellmates -- Benigni's role serve as comic relief against the morose behavior of the other two characters. DOWN BY LAW begins as a drama portraying the underbelly of a Louisiana town, but by the end it has transformed into absurdist comedy.
Lurie's acting is fine, representing his character convincingly as a pathetic d-bag. Benigni might seem like he's playing himself, but his English is reputedly much better than the broken phrases he offers in the film. Nicoletta Braschi appears as the Italian's love interest, a role that must have been easy to play since Benigni and her are married in real life. I've never thought Tom Waits was a great actor, however.
This is an entertaining film, with many fine touches. If I rate it less than a full five stars, it's just because I can't completely get into these black and white portrayals of contemporary lowlifes (I have a problem with early Kaurismaki for the same reason--his aesthetic was very similar to Jarmusch's.)
Summary of Down By Law [VHS]
After creating one of the breakthrough movies of the American independent cinema, Stranger than Paradise, Jim Jarmusch stayed right in the same minimalist, oddball, black-and-white groove. Down by Law takes place in Louisiana, where two losers (musicians Tom Waits and John Lurie) find themselves stuck in a jail cell together. One day they are joined by a boisterous Italian (Roberto Benigni), and the chemistry changes--suddenly an escape attempt is on the horizon. Conventional drama is not Jarmusch's intention; one of the emotional high points of this movie is the three guys marching around their prison cell shouting, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" Yet the deadpan style creates its own humorous mood, underscored by melancholy (also underscored by the music of Lurie and the gravel-voiced songs of Waits). This was the first American film for Roberto Benigni, the Italian comedian (Life Is Beautiful), and he lights it up with his effervescent clowning. Jarmusch has said that Down by Law forms a loose trilogy with Stranger than Paradise and the subsequent Mystery Train, a triptych of disaffected, drifting life in the United States. Few filmmakers have ever surveyed ennui so entertainingly. --Robert HortonComedy VHS Video
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![Down By Law [VHS] Image](/images/Down-By-Law-VHS-630383261X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Down By Law [VHS]Polygram Video; Release date: 1997-02-11; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.50
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