Coffee and Cigarettes
United Artists | Release Date: May 14, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
Like dark chocolate -- not semi-sweet, but the exotic, nearly black stuff -- Coffee and Cigarettes won't appeal to everyone. Jarmusch is the 70 percent cacao of contemporary filmmakers, and people who love this kind of chocolate swear by it. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Just when you're certain that Jarmusch is treading water with his borderline-tedious cleverness, something happens: Coffee and Cigarettes turns into a movie FULL of talk -- rich, supple, hilarious, masterfully orchestrated talk. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn Kenny
By the end the movie has pretty much ceased taking itself at all seriously, devolving into a nonchalant giggliness of the stoned variety that's completely apropos. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
In Jarmusch's capable hands, the mundane has never been so delightful. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
As the film goes along, themes and even lines of dialogue resurface, and Jarmusch's comic sensibilities grow more assured. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Powers
It's worth fidgeting through the mediocre stuff to get to three good pieces. In one, Cate Blanchett turns in a tour de force as both herself and her aggressive, resentful Aussie cousin in an awkward encounter that captures the pathological relationship between ordinary people and celebrities. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Known for an elegant visual style, Jarmusch has a great gift for playing actors against one another, for finding complementary eccentrics (Murray and RZA) and uncovering rare gems (Bill Rice and Taylor Mead in "Champagne"). Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
It feels as if it has been recovered from a time capsule, and what larger meaning it may have is anyone's guess. But it is way cool -- and funny -- in ways that more expensive comedies trying harder rarely are. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Jarmusch's use of yin/yang, dark/light and good/evil symbolism makes glorious if goofy sense. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
It's a movie about discomfort and distance, like an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "The Larry Sanders Show" shot in deadpan black-and-white. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Jarmusch makes it a feast that plays like a haunting concept album. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
A series of vignettes...Some are weak, some are superb -- there's a priceless one with Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan as Brits with different feelings about learning they're cousins -- but they get better as they go along. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Indie hipster Jarmusch's distinctive brand of effortless cool and quirky humor percolate through each of 11 vignettes, all shot fairly statically in crisp, aesthetically pleasing black and white. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
At the heart of most of these encounters is talk about the nature of relationships -- cousins, twins, and peers. Mostly, though, Jarmusch displays an unexpected interest in the ironies and banalities of fame. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Odd but engaging film. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Sometimes movies tire us by trying too relentlessly to pound us with their brilliance and energy. Here is a movie pitched at about the energy level of a coffee break. That the people are oddly assorted and sometimes very strange is not so very unusual, considering some of the conversations you overhear in Starbucks. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Sometimes sly and witty, sometimes dull and forced, Coffee and Cigarettes is Jim Jarmusch's testimony to the difficulties and delights of communication. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
What unites everything is Jarmusch’s playful, hang-dog absurdism. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The implication that beauty and meaning can be found in odd places at unlikely, idle moments resonates through this lovely film. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Although these vignettes are unified visually -- they're all in black-and-white and they all have the same gorgeous, silky visual texture -- they were shot by several different cinematographers. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Like "Mystery Train" and "Night on Earth," this feature by Jim Jarmusch is a short story collection, but it's funnier and more formally adventurous than either--also ultimately greater than the sum of its parts. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Many will be left scratching their heads at the point of the entire enterprise, but fans of Jarmusch's askew view will clink coffee mugs and toast to the glories of human eccentricity. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Very slight and, in the early going, slightly annoying, Coffee and Cigarettes is a long-borning Jarmusch project. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
The draggy ones make you restless while the best ones, like the movie's title ingredients, provide a buzz that doesn't last long enough. Read full review
60
VarietyDeborah Young
Holding the film together are simple but strong B&W visuals of offbeat types sitting around a table smoking and drinking java while they talk. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
C&C hardly coalesces, but then again, it doesn't try to--never more or less than what it appears to be, the film is a slow honky-tonk thud-beat, only intermittently punctuated by a joke or idea. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Freer
Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina deliver a terrific meditation on insincere actors. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
While sometimes evocative, they don't add up to a satisfying movie any more than, as several characters are cautioned, coffee and cigarettes constitute a healthy lunch. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The lone gem of the anthology takes place in the loft of a trendy L.A. restaurant where a snooty Steve Coogan learns from starstruck Alfred Molina that the actors are cousins...This is the longest of the shorts, and has a payoff ending that nearly makes the whole thing worthwhile. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
Despite glimmers of wit and a hipper-than-thou cast, it's painstakingly smug, and smaller than the sum of its parts. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The skits that comprise Coffee and Cigarettes aren't fully realized short pieces as much as riffs or fragments; their appeal is mostly in their stars. Read full review
50
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The best way to watch this film is while sipping coffee in a café. Nicotine optional. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Serves up a weak brew. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Too slight and pointless. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Flat and uninspired. Read full review
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