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Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Robert Mitchum ... see more see more... , Mili Avital , Gabriel Byrne , Iggy Pop , Crispin Glover , Richard Boes , Mark Bringelson , Eugene Byrd , Jared Harris , John Hurt , Alfred Molina , Pete Schrum , Billy Bob Thornton , Michelle Thrush , Jimmie Ray Weeks , Michael McCarty , Mike Dawson , Todd Pfeiffer , Johnny Pfeiffer , Mickey McGee , John C. Pattison , Gibby Haines , George Duckworth , Thomas Bettles , Daniel Chas Stacy , Leonard Bowechop , Cecil Cheeka , John Ringling North

A dark, bitter commentary on modern American life cloaked in the form of a surrealist western, Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man stars Johnny Depp as William Blake, a newly-orphaned accountant who leaves his ho... read more read more...me in Cleveland to accept a job in the frontier town of Machine. Upon his arrival, Blake is told by the factory owner Dickinson (Robert Mitchum) that the job has already been filled. Dejectedly, he enters a nearby tavern, ultimately spending the night with a former prostitute. A violent altercation with the woman's lover (Gabriel Byrne), also Dickinson's son, leaves Blake a murderer as well as mortally wounded, a bullet lodged dangerously close to his heart. He flees into the wilderness, where a Native American named Nobody (Gary Farmer) mistakes Blake for the English poet William Blake and determines that he will be Blake's guide in his protracted passage into the spirit world. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Flixster Users

85% liked it

52,439 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

35 critics

R, 2 hr. 1 min.

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

Release Date: May 26, 1995

Keywords: western, road

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DVD Release Date: July 3, 2001

Stats: 3,647 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,647)

  • itsjustme2004
    March 6, 2012
    itsjustme2004
    Well, this was the 2nd time that I watched this..thinking that maybe I missed how good this was supposed to be the first time. No. I still am not sure what all the hype is about. This is just ok to me...
  • flixsterman
    January 29, 2012
    flixsterman
    Most of the disparagement that has been heaped on Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man is unjust and undeserved. What an under-appreciated gem of a film.
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Jarmusch's take on the western with a perfect performance from Johnny Depp.
  • danperry17
    October 24, 2011
    danperry17
    Hauntingly good film. Episodic, full of blackouts and a grinding Neil Young soundtrack, this is a neo-neo-realist take on a simple Western story, full of disillusionment and pain but also insight and laughter. More than anything, this film makes its money with its style, somehow ... read moreglossy and gritty at the same time, and deceptively simple. A really unique movie from a director I'm beginning to enjoy more and more. The cool factor here is off the charts, but it's believable, too. A departure from the ordinary that you'll be glad you took.
  • ajv2688
    June 9, 2011
    ajv2688
    I'll admit, I didn't get to see this movie to the end, and I only wanted to see the scene with Crispin Glover, which was strange, but slightly funny. I didn't understand this movie, but I should probably see the rest of it.
  • axadntpron
    June 2, 2011
    axadntpron
    Dead Man is quite an interesting ride. Described as an "acid Western", this revisionist western is an exercise in style. Neil Young's guitar glides over mesmeric black and white shots of the frontier. Depp is excellent as a man having an existential crises, and the large amount o... read moref character actors makes this film a joy to experience. It really just seems like everyone is having as much fun on screen as they are when the camera is off. Jarmusch clearly knows his westerns and it is interesting to see him take the familiar tropes of the genre and turn them on their head. It can be a little self indulgent at times, but it is definitely worth a watch.
  • SirPant
    December 31, 2010
    SirPant
    Jim Jarmusch makes a western and gets away with it. Dead Man has cult classic written all over it and so it should. Style over substance? not at all, the acting, script and direction are second to none, this is a great film!
  • hunterjt13
    September 2, 2010
    hunterjt13
    Only Jim Jarmusch would have a man as handsome as Johnny Depp spoon a dead baby deer.
    In the end, I can't say that I "got it." It seems like Jarmusch is playing with film conventions by defying all that most people expect from Westerns. For example, Natives are treated with t... read morehe complication and dignity that they deserve. Also, the hero is not a gunslinger but an accountant from Cleveland.
    But violating conventions does not a good film make. The music is often annoying, and it seemed like Nobody's final moment on camera was the result of Jarmusch - at the last minute - saying, "Oh, shit, I forgot to wrap up that story line." The best I can say about Dead Man is that it was enjoyable to watch, but the narrative failed to motivate any strong feelings or thoughts.
  • ythelastman89
    July 22, 2010
    ythelastman89
    It's a very good movie, but I can't say that it's one of my favorites. The real flaw of this movie is the typical "Miramax Art House" it has and the overly quirky comedy that comes along with it. However, once it gets going it becomes a very original and interesting Western. I f... read moreind it interesting that most of the movie centers around a man slowly dying and becoming more and more connected with the spirit world. The characters and performances in this really sell it, Johnny Depp as "the other" William Blake has a very large bit of character development. He goes from an accountant to an outlaw over the course of the story. I really liked the traditional Black and White look, it reminded me a lot of why John Ford chose to make The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance the same way.
  • garyX
    February 13, 2010
    garyX
    The wild west gets the Jarmusch treatment in this road movie without a road that sees eastern city accountant Johnny Depp finding himself wanted for murder and on the run in an unfamiliar wilderness and society that seems to be constructed from pure, undiluted death. The usual qu... read moreirky mix of oddball characters and surreal images you'd expect from Jarmusch, Dead Man is most certainly not your typical western. Shot as westerns should be in black and white (echoing the best works of Ford and Mann) Depp's journey encounters a supporting cast to die for including Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt, Gary Farmer as his cryptic gibberish spouting Indian guide, Lance Henriksen as a psychopathic cannibal bounty hunter, Iggy Pop and Billy Bob Thornton who supply the funniest gun fight I've ever seen, Robert Mitchum as a psychotic horse lover and Alfred Molina as a despicable "missionary" who form the rich tapestry of weirdness that is this film. I felt it ran out of steam a little as the ending is a little anti-climactic, but the journey there was so engaging it was worth it. Strange and beautiful.

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Critic Reviews

Mike Clark
January 1, 2000
Mike Clark, USA Today

Coy to a fault, the movie collapses under its own weight with 90 minutes to go, despite Robby MĂuller's impressive black-and-white photography, which puts the film on a higher artistic plane than othe...

John Beifuss
January 9, 2012
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

It seems to be Blake's name as much as anything that propels the character deep into a strange frontier where Blakean ideals of innocence and integrity have been obliterated by ignorance and cruelty. Full Review

Anton Bitel
January 5, 2009
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film

a low-key classic of strangely poetic beauty - a western for sleepwalkers and dreamers. Full Review

Rob Gonsalves
December 30, 2006
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

I was held by Depp's transformation from white-man non-entity to the Jarmusch version of the affectless Man With No Name. Full Review

Cole Smithey
October 27, 2006
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Jarmusch's lyrical update on the western genre is a real joy.

Dan Jardine
September 26, 2006
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide

Quite exquisite. Beautiful, really. Full Review

Leo Goldsmith
August 7, 2006
Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Characteristically meandering and sardonic, with Robby Muller's floating, shimmering camerawork, a catalog of witty cameos, and one of the most beautiful modern film-scores Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 19, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Minimalism defines this revisionist and challenging noir- Western, a welcome artistic departure from Jarmusch's increasingly tired and tiresome Downtown New York sensibility. Full Review

Rob Vaux
August 29, 2005
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

Bad, but not uninteresting

Scott Weinberg
April 3, 2005
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Depp and Jarmusch combine for something fairly bizarre, yet quietly rewarding.

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Facts

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    • Nobody: Stupid fucking white man.
    • Nobody: Every night and every morn, some to misery are born. Every morn and every night, some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight; some are born to endless night.
    • John Dickinson: The only job you're likely to have is pushin' up daises.
    • Nobody: Stupid fucking white man.
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