Wonderful character development!

Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie of this year hands down!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Three different groups check in to a cheap Memphis hotel - two young Japanese tourists obsessed with Elvis and American pop culture, an Italian woman staying overnight due to flight issues, sharing a room with a talkative American she bumped into in the foyer, and three young men hiding out after one of them drunkenly shoots a liquor store clerk. As in 'Down By Law', Jarmusch once again finds humour in foreign language difficulties, and is excellent at capturing the idiosyncrasies and quirks of his characters. With the ghosts of Elvis both figuratively and literally appearing in every frame, and the seedy run down side of Memphis on display, the film certainly has a unique character. In fact, the film is all character, as only the barest of plots ties it together - the sound of a gunshot in the morning. However as in 'Down By Law', these characters are not always pleasant to spend time with, particularly the three young men of the final act, who it is impossible laugh either with or at after they've just killed someone. The film is also incredibly slow, particularly at the beginning, and can be a drag to get through. Thematically, it is about the odd and mysterious ways strangers can be intertwined.

Three stories about three sets of off beat characters, one scenario: Memphis. Mystery train is a clever and funny film in full Jarmush style; in my opinion it is an enjoyable and light hearted film constructed in such a way that as the plot proceeds, the audience begins to pay attention to various details used as a way to connect the three stories together. I enjoyed particularly the first story which depicted the Japanese couple on a discovery tour of Memphis, here Jarmush's interest for the human's behaviour is evident as the couple relationship, although it might seem to be almost comical, is in fact a quite realistic stereotyipical representation of a Japanese relationship.Definitely worth watching it if you are into independent "no mainstream" films.

There are three things I can honestly say I've never experienced. A bad pizza, bad sex, or a bad movie with Steve Buscemi in it.This typically quirky Jim Jarmusch film consists of four overlapping stories whose characters, for better or for worse, all end up one night in a rundown Memphis hotel. A young Japanese couple making the rock and roll fan's obligatory pilgrimage; a recently widowed young Italian woman; a New Jersey transplant who's run out on her lover and is making her way back home; and three friends, including the latter's brother and her drunken, depressed ex, who have gotten themselves into a "situation".It's not just Buscemi - all members of this extraordinary cast, which includes Joe Strummer, Elizabeth Bracco, Rick Aviles, and two wonderful Japanese actors whom I've never heard of - plus the laugh out loud script, make this film a treat.

After falling in love with Jarmusch's most recent film, Broken Flowers, I thought perhaps the door would be open and I would learn to love the rest of his films. Unfortunately, watching Mystery Train, I feel the same distance that I have felt watching most of his other films. Don't get me wrong, there are some wonderful things about Mystery Train, and, overall, I liked it more than I did Stranger Than Paradise and Down by Law. But I always felt like I should be liking it a lot more, and I just never felt much more than a nice affection for the movie. The film contains three segments about people in Memphis, Tennessee. I especially liked the first one, which has two Japanese tourists there to visit Sun Records and Graceland. The second segment I liked less, which involves an Italian widow and a motormouth American she runs into. The third I liked slightly better than the second, and slightly less than the first. It involves three guys (one of them being Steve Buscemi), one of whom has a loaded gun and is drunk (who is not Steve Buscemi). All three stories meet up at a flophouse run by Screamin' Jay Hawkins (famous for recording the song "You Put a Spell on Me") and a goofy little bellboy played by Spike Lee's brother, Cinqué. I really liked those two. The whole film is mysterious and charming, with a bit of magic in the air, but somehow, for me at least, it didn't result in too much.