Laconic has always been a good word for Jarmusch. He doesn't force stories, but lets them gradually unfold. He doesn't spoon feed you characters, he just let's them be who they are and hopes his audience is smart enough to suss them out.
That makes a perfect team with Murray, whose comedy has elegantly refined itself into blinky-eyed stares. At the state he's going, he'll be approaching a perfect state of mimehood soon, where his films will consist of one impossibly long close-up of Murray staring at the audience.
I liked the Odyssean aspect of his quest, and the repeating circular themes (including his street, which he tells to the cabbie near the end "Circle Drive, please." The basketball hoops, the use of pink to represent the feminine.
Despite the fact that I've always been trained as a writer to make a character arc and resolve it neatly at the end, I really like movies that challenge that convention. The shot of Murray at the end, standing in front of the obvious-but-still-enjoyable crossroads was quite nice.
But I have to say my favorite character was Winston. He was fantastic, iconic, and so uncliched and original that you felt like he would be a guy you'd like to have as a neighbor. And then, also, a guy who you'd absolutely hate to have as a neighbor.
Where we saw it: Movie Theater | We deign to rate it: 82 outta 100