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Another interesting variation is the contrasting styles of the various cinematographers, including Frederick Elmes (Blue Velvet, The Ice Storm), Robby Muller (Breaking the Waves), Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and filmmaker Tom DiCillo (Stranger than Paradise). In the film's most sublime episode, actors Taylor Mead and Bill Reed share a table at night behind a restaurant where the light illuminates Mead's marvelous aged face in such a way to create a sort of holy moment—a picture worth capturing in a frame.

The conversations occasionally crisscross on similar themes and recurring statements, leading us to consider the way bits of news and quotable quotes thread their way from relationship to relationship, affecting each person differently. "The earth is a conductor of acoustical resonance," they muse, some of them profoundly intrigued, others completely perplexed.

Many will walk away from Coffee and Cigarettes shaking their heads, wondering what the purpose of such a meandering, plotless, talky motion picture could be. Others will be bothered by the film's frequently rough dialogue and the proliferation of nicotine. But it would be wrong to consider this a failed experiment. Viewers simply need to adjust their lenses to focus on smaller things, quieter moments, and quirks of personality.

It would also be out of line to call this a glorification of smoking. In fact, several characters voice the obvious detriments of smoking. Still, it's undeniable that smoking can be an expressive and revealing act, and the huffing and puffing sometimes becomes a dialogue in itself. After a while, the cigarettes take on an almost symbolic significance, as if each smoke—and each cuppa joe as well—represent the common everyday moments that are burnt up, sipped away, with very little notice.

It is certainly fair to say that other filmmakers might have come up with more entertaining exchanges, wilder personality contrasts, and more imaginative situations than these. A few of the episodes never quite come to life. They never aspire to explore such ambitious territory as other "talk movies" like My Dinner with Andre or Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise and Waking Life.

But Coffee and Cigarettes performs a valuable service, reminding us that moments of revelation and inspiration happen outside of the typical contexts of big screen movies. Jarmusch's intention is to celebrate the simple things that bring us together, and to enjoy the wide variety of personal styles, faces, voices, and experiences that manifest themselves right in front of us every day. A film like this can help us enjoy each other more. It can help us appreciate how much we reveal about ourselves in our most casual and typical exchanges. It can also de-glamorize the cultivated images of celebrities and remind us how much we all have in common, how each one of us can make the briefest of encounters either meaningful, memorable, and revealing, or else cold, empty, and wasted.

The late Gene Siskel once commented that he sometimes measured films by whether or not they would be as good as a documentary of the same actors talking over lunch. He probably would have enjoyed this film. Hopefully Jarmusch will inspire other filmmakers to consider turning their cameras toward unconventional matters like this. Every hour of our lives is sacred and worth examining. And, really, how worthwhile is it to dwell on car chases, serial killers, scandals, and shallow romances anyway?

1. Compare and contrast the different episodes of the film. Do you see any similar topics of conversation? Do you see any stark similarities or differences between the attitudes and personalities of the characters? What themes do you think Jarmusch is interested in as he assembles these chapters?
   
   

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