This apotheosis of deadpan hipster minimalism from actor Bill Murray and director Jim Jarmusch follows the aging, depressive Don Juan(-ston) on a mystery-plumbing roadtrip as he revisits old flames, after he has received an anonymous letter suggesting he has a 19-year-old son. The women are Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, and Tilda Swinton, a fascinating quartet of middle-aged women if ever there was one, which sustains interest in the quiet conceit of director and male lead. The film is impressively detailed and determinedly paced, right from the knockout title sequence that follows the implicating letter from a hand dropping it in mailbox to delivery in home mailslot. At times the film seems more about modern American vernacular architecture and design than anything else. It’s all maddeningly intelligent and inconclusive, pleasurable and funny and intriguing, and yet somehow lacking in impact. (2005, Images, n.) *7* (MC-79, RT-88.)
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