Playing like a noir-informed mashup of “Streetcar” and “The Defiant Ones,” director Jim Jarmusch’s prison-escape dramedy is aided enormously by the brilliant performances of John Lurie, Tom Waits and a scene-stealing Roberto Begnini.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 25, 2023

Fellow musician John Lurie and Italian actor Roberto Benigni play his cellmates Jack and Bob, and the trio do a fine job of playing people who suck up a mutual dislike to join forces and commit an imperfect crime.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 26, 2021

Down by Law seems on occasion to be soliciting our approval.

| Mar 27, 2020

Jim Jarmusch's uneven but stylish comdie noire is an astute mixture of prison picture, road movie and downbeat screwball.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 12, 2014

Down By Law is oddly heart-warming, magnifying moments of unexpected camaraderie between kindred spirits who don't immediately ID each other as such.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 11, 2014

Down by Law is a delight, right down to the unexpected last scene.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 9, 2014

Mutual irritation merges into grudging friendship, and the wit manages to be both broad and smart, soulful and silly, subtle and raucous, all at the same time.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 8, 2014

Perhaps it's not what you expect from a prison movie, but Jim Jarmusch has always adhered to his own personal vision.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 21, 2012

[An] odd, funny, strangely mesmerizing three-part comedy.

| Oct 18, 2008

Stylish hipster comedy that delivers the laughs.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 12, 2008

Every single incident in the film is meaningful.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Mar 2, 2008

Director-writer Jarmusch's characters are insignificant antiheroes adrift in an America that is both sad and beautiful.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 11, 2008

The Jim Jarmusch penchant for off-the-wall characters and odd situations is very much in evidence.

| Jan 11, 2008

On the whole I've had more fun in Cleveland.

| Jan 11, 2008

Its soul is the same as all Jarmusch films, but here he digs a bit deeper into the roots of his own methodology and that to which he is opposed.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 25, 2006

More cheerful than Stranger Than Paradise, this movie plays a reversal on the Hollywood comedy in which a high-spirited American usually brings joy to a foreigner; here it's Italian Roberto Benigni.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 20, 2006

After the initial establishment of character and atmosphere, the laughs come thick and fast, most notably from the marvellous [Roberto] Benigni.

| Jan 26, 2006

Not as good as it should be.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 13, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 27, 2004