Review of Dead Man (1995) by Kevin N — 10 Feb 2012

In Jim Jarmusch's quirky existential Western, Robby Muller's thickly gorgeous black and white cinematography is the only thing that isn't some kind of mess. Everything else about the film, for better or worse, seems scatter-brained and, at times, undercooked.

The movie moves at a dreadfully slow pace, and I sincerely believe at least fifteen minutes could have been cut for the picture's benefit. The dialogue is caught somewhere in between eccentric and serious, often resulting in pretentious sounding monologues and exchanges.

But when it works, it can be quite funny, and there's no denying that Jarmusch has an ear for the art of words. I liked the movie most when it was focusing on quite moments between William Blake (Johnny Depp) and Nobody (Gary Farmer), two people who just don't get each other but who manage to form a touching friendship.

Almost half of the movie is devoted to John Dickinson's (Robert Mitchum) hunt for Blake; he utilizes the talents of three bounty hunters, who suck up a lot of time and never struck me as particularly interesting or funny.

The film does venture into some interesting places, and I certainly never got tired of seeing the beautiful texture and mystique of the images. It has a beautiful ending, one full of thought and purpose, but the events that lead up to it seem empty, lacking, dry.