This is going to end badly. With The Dead Don’t Die, writer and director Jim Jarmusch attempts to turn the zombie genre on its ear. With a pace that is far from brisk, no real zombie activity until almost 3/4 of the way through the film, tearing the forth wall asunder and focusing on a big battle for the throne, it’s a decidedly challenging view.
Who will come out on top of the battle for best dry line delivery in the business? In this corner the reigning champion, William James Murray and in this corner the new leader pretend, Adam Douglas Driver. With lines so dry you can practically see the dust in the air, the two go head to head. And the winner is? Sorry you’ll just have to see the film.
Set in a small town, Centerville, population 738. The pace of life in this minuscule American town is what you might call relaxed. As in nothing really ever happens but when Big Oil fracks the earth’s poles, both North and South, it changes the planet’s axis and sets off the impending zombie apocalypse.
Jarmusch doesn’t even attempt to make a current Zombie flick, in most ways this is some real old school s@#$, even to the point of using one of the best croaks in the business to narrate, yes Tom Waits channels his best wooly mammoth look and keeps things moving, sort of. Those looking for modern day thrills might be disappointed but for this scribe, the leisurely pace and toned down dialogue and action was utterly charming.
Rob Hudson
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