Coffee and Cigarettes

Director Jim Jarmusch revisits the vignette construction of Mystery Train and Night on Earth but finds few nuggets of interest in a mother lode of small talk. Jarmusch sequesters us at several diner and café tables to eavesdrop on a parade of well-known and lesser-known actors, musicians and filmmakers. They generally play themselves as they meet in small groups for some rather abstract reasons—or just to hang out, as conversations stretch from idle chatter to such subjects as family trees. The black-and-white photography and gritty, funky settings provide a rich atmosphere for the caffeine and nicotine crowd here to dwell, but Jarmusch and a cast including Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Bill Murray, RZA, Steven Wright, Cate Blanchett and Alfred Molina wind up mostly killing not only their time but also ours.