On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Wonderful film -- truly spiritual, heartfelt, warm and moving.

Excellent casting and overall look/feel to the movie -- love the Black and White.

8.5/10

In Dead Man we have Jarmusch's trademark sense of humour and he's on top form here. I must confess that I initially watched this film to see Mr Depp in action. These days I'm a little tired of watching him, so if you find the energy to turn back to the best days of Johnny when he acted in great films then this is an ideal example.

The tobacco line is as legendary as anything written by the Coen Brothers. Then there's the STupid White Man lines from the fake Red Indian and their references to William Blake the poet. It's all very funny in a light way.

What makes Dead Man better than Jim's other movies is the stunning, rocky soundtrack and the brilliant black-and-white visuals. It's not a movie to learn the meaning of life, but it's a real memorable experience, almost psychedelic at times. You'd expect that when he enters Red Indian territory. And this time, you couldn't cast anyway as perfect as Johnny Depp for the role.

In choosing between two words - "perplexing" or "pretentious" - to describe this flick, I'm unsure which is more appropriate. I was drawn to it by the presence of Johnny Depp and of Robert Mitchum, despite the flurry of negative reviews. Now I understand those reviews. I almost stopped watching after the first ten minutes, which are wordless, and do nothing but show - in successive takes of no more than a minute or so each - the changing ridership of a train car in which Depp's character, William Blake, is traveling. This sets the tone for most of the movie, which will be presented, annoyingly, in brief clips, some no longer than twenty seconds. The first words spoken, addressed to Blake, are cryptic and opaque, again setting the tone for the movie. If you wonder about the reference to William Blake, the British poet and painter, you would be on point, although the nature of the relationship of Depp's character to the real Blake is still unclear at the end. The film looks like some sort of metaphor for the passage from life (gee, might that river being crossed be the Styx?), but as soon as it seems to fix on this idea a scene of knee-slapping humor will intrude (these humorous bits are actually the most appealing parts of the movie). The actor chosen to play the Indian spiritual guide looks as much like an Indian as I do an alpaca, but that might be part of the humorous angle. The second most annoying aspect of the movie after the short takes is the musical score, for distorted acoustic guitar, which is obviously a reference to Western oaters of yore and is very soon grating. Having said all that the movie is like a train wreck - you can't take your eyes off it, even though you want to.The movie succeeds in making you want to see how it all turns out, and I watched to the end, which is, alas, as cryptic as most of what preceded it.