I guess it was only a matter of time until Trump Derangement Syndrome destroyed everything I like. And now, this: an indy film with Bill Murray and Steve Buscemi underwhelms. Sad!
Jim Jarmusch is the deadpan guy, and I love his other stuff. There's something wonderful about delivering things straight-on but within a ridiculous context and there's nobody better for that than late-in-his-career Bill Murray. The guy exudes. Exudes what, you ask? He just exudes, dude. And he knows that, and he knows how to play it or perhaps underplay would be the correct verb.
But here, right from the start with Jarmusch having Buscemi wear a "KEEP AMERICA WHITE AGAIN" red cap (hardy har har), we see the poisoning of art with politics and stupid politics at that. I realize everyone to the left of the Mississippi River (and NYC and Atlanta as well) have to pretend that we are living in Nazi Germany but really? Jarmusch could've done SO much better by mocking the OTHER side or at least mixing mockeries. Then he'd at least maintain that outsider status. But here, he's revealed as just another tired, aging hippie that -- like all the others -- have been reduced to singing we will overcome songs in their kitchens and pretending that it's the 60's all over again. It's not.
The politicizing of everything is fucking horrible but then when it happens to what is supposed to be a dry, outsider film that affords you -- as many silly funny movies are supposed to -- a RESPITE from the daily political hair-pulling, screaming arguments that are Facebook about Columbus and other dead people then you know it's game over and the ending line of the movie rings true except it would be better applied to the filmmaker himself and those that came up with this. They suck.
Of course, because Murray is in it his charm is there and Buscemi's squinting mannerisms are there and Danny Glover is solid and some of the dry moments cooked up by Jarmusch are humorous. But as I recently said to someone: what stands out are the parts that DON'T work. And this movie doesn't. It just tries to beat a dead horse: orange man bad. We get it, you don't like him.
Can we go watch a funny movie now? That makes us happy to be alive?
WesLee 4 yrs
Yes, watch a funny movie. Like Blazing Saddles.