Down by Law (1986) - Jarmusch's jailbreak movie is an independent character gem

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One of the great posters for Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law

QUICK REVIEW:

Written and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)), Down by Law was his third feature, and it remains one of my favorites among his many great films.

Zack, Jack and the Italian Bob are all three innocently jailed in New Orleans. That is, Bob actually has killed a man, but it was not really his intention. Now, of course, they escape!

What is so attractive about Down by Law is also what sets it apart from so many of Jarmusch's other fine pictures: It is 100 % character-oriented. It never abandons its characters to reach for philosophical heights but keeps its focus on the interactions of the three fundamentally different men, brought together through incarceration: The ego-loner pimp Jack (John Lurie (Oz (2001-03))), the socially grunting Zack (Tom Waits (Short Cuts (1993))) and the simple man Bob (Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful/La Vita è Bella (1997))).
Benigni is hysterically funny, and Lurie and Waits are simply perfect as two seedy New Orleans characters.
Don't miss this magical gem in B/W, gorgeously shot by Robby Müller (Breaking the Waves (1996)).

Related reviews:

Jim Jarmusch: Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people    
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justice in Jarmusch's cool treat   
Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece 
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Roberto Benigni in loving embrace with Nicoletta Braschi, who would later become his wife in real life, in Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law

Watch the trailer for this great film here

Cost: Estimated 1.1 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 4.5 mil. $
= Uncertainty
[But at least a big hit. The film, which also features two of Waits' songs from his album Rain Dogs, played in Cannes and received grandiloquent reviews en masse. It made 1.4 mil. $ in North America and 3.1 mil. $ in Germany. The film was a US-West-German co-production. Its final gross is unknown.]

What do you think of Down by Law?