There may be no better match for the deadpan absurdity of Jarmusch than the flavorful earthiness of Memphis. The city's endless, humid nights, ludicrously rich musical heritage that is often neglected, and bursts of battered personality around every corner undercuts Jarmusch's instinctive indie stateliness and brings rambunctious life to the proceedings. His script unfolds three stories that intersect in clever ways, each offering cogent observations about what it's like to be adrift in America.

I don't think I could spend more than 5 minutes with any of Jarmusch's characters in real life, but watching them in a movie is reasonably enjoyable. There's a bleak undercurrent in the film, especially in the visual depiction of Memphis as a rusted out shithole, but there's also an odd sense of fun in the aimless atmosphere to balance it out.

My favorite Jarmusch, definitely.

that second act wasn't very good but otherwise cool

Mystery Train's three loosely coupled segments piqued my interest, especially the first, which is enlivened by its unusual perspective, wonderful leads, and a rich depiction of Memphis. Jarmusch's steady camera and long takes are also able to find a surprising amount of character in his stark sets. Unfortunately the last two segment's narratives are more conventional, with disappointingly hollow characters, and the film frustratingly alludes to a lot of themes without adequately exploring them.

Steve Buscemi is the shit.

A relaxed, hilarious and occasionally touching journey through a dry, surreal night in Memphis. The performances, the soundtrack and the atmosphere created are really fantastic, set a really dark tone overall. The Japanese couple have the best dialogue and Joe Strummer's story was the best overall and the Italian tourist was the funniest. A near perfect film.

The first story is definitely the greatest. I'm not sure if the other two are up to par but I enjoyed the hell out of this movie while watching it so I don't think I'm going to pick it apart now.

A great movie. Really, it was hard to follow my expectations after Dow By Law, but I'm truly impressed. Grrrr... Elvis :)

Classic Jarmusch class. You can recognize his style in every frame and it's bloody brilliant.

Maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but except for Nicoletta Braschi, the characters didn't work for me, and I'm not sure why they didn't (although the characters in the last vignette weren't very interesting, imo). Still, I loved the way urban decay the film captures and the Jarmusch's deadpan, kooky vibe.

The beauty of life is in small details, not in big events

This one is okay. I don't care much for this type of narrative, and the way Jarmusch ties the tales together feels very self-conscious. Of the three stories, the first is the best. The second is a whole bunch of nothing and the third picks up a little bit with some witty dialogue, but I was pretty disengaged by that point. Sorta fun but also sorta annoying and ultimately seems pointless. I feel like Jarmusch makes movies just to show off how many hip musicians and cool actors he hangs out with.

The first segment was fantastic (the best of the three) and I was inevitably let down by the rest of the film.

Two first segments are great, the third one was a bit too on the nose and broad, but overall a wonderful experience.