Review of Coffee and Cigarettes (2004) by Sol H — 24 Jul 2011

Mostly completely pretentious waffle. It appears to be cheaply shot in presumably very little time (spread out over a long time, I know) and is basically just a series of characters -many of whom are portrayed by musicians rather than actors, and it shows -all have conversations that feel like shitty immitations of Tarantino films.

There are three exceptions to this and they come in the form of the 'Twins' segment whenever Steve Buscemi is onscreen -purely because Steve Buscemi is captivating, the sequence with Bill Murray -purely because it's Bill Murray and it's impossible not to smile when you're looking at Bill Murray, and the whole segment with Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina which is actually somewhat amusing -although it plays out like a deleted sequence from a Michael Winterbottom / Coogan collaberation, what with Steve awkwardly playing himself as a bit of a dick and all.

So yes. I would recomment watching the Molina/Coogan bit on its own and ignoring the rest really. The novelty of Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, etc all wears off after you read their names in the opening credits and leaves you with a film that is fittingly shot in black and white -fittingly, because it's on the same artistic level as those photos that your friend who thinks that they're a photographer took in black and white despite the lack of colour adding nothing. Because, you know? Black and white is artistic.

4/10.