Down by Law

Synopsis: DJ Zack and pimp Jack end up in prison for being too laid-back to avoid being framed for crimes they didn't commit. They end up sharing a cell with eccentric Italian optimist Roberto, whose limited command of the English language is both entertaining and infuriating. More useful to them is the fact that Roberto knows an escape route.
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Director(s): Jim Jarmusch
Production: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
  4 wins & 6 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.8
Metacritic:
75
Rotten Tomatoes:
90%
R
Year:
1986
107 min
2,828 Views


''Edna Million in a drop-dead suit''

''Dutch pink

on a downtown train''

''Two-dollar pistol

but the gun won't shoot''

''I'm in the corner

on the pouring rain''

''Sixteen men

on a deadman's chest''

''And I've been drinking

from a broken cup''

''Two pairs of pants

and a mohair vest''

''I'm full of bourbon

I can't stand up''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Schiffer broke a bottle

on Morgan's head''

''And I've been stepping

on the devil's tail''

''Across the stripes

of a full moon's head''

''And through the bars

of a Cuban jail''

''Bloody fingers

on a purple knife''

''A flamingo drinking

from a cocktail glass''

''I'm on the lawn

with someone else's wife''

''Admire the view

from up on top of the mast''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

Julie, what are you doing here?

Just watching

the light changing.

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''House is on fire

and your children are alone''

''Hey''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

and your children are alone''

You sleepin', baby?

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Yellow sheets

on a Hong Kong bed''

''Stazybo horn

and a Slingerland ride''

''To the carnival

is what she said''

''A hundred dollars

makes it dark inside''

''Edna Million

in a drop-dead suit''

''Dutch pink

on a downtown train''

''Two-dollar pistol

but the gun won't shoot''

''I'm in the corner

on the pouring rain''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

''Hey, little bird

Fly away home''

''Your house is on fire

Your children are alone''

Only 'cause you don't...

'cause you don't

take care of me.

Or want me.

Or want to make

any kind of commitment to me.

I'm finished with you, Zack.

I'm completely finished with you.

Why don't you just go find yourself

some other little girl to be your pet?

That shouldn't be

difficult for you.

I've had it with you

and your f***in' stupid radio shows.

This is really f***in' boring!

Okay. Okay.

We're not gonna

talk about that right now.

Look at you, Zack.

Look what you're doing to yourself.

You're digging your own grave.

Why can't you just

stay at one station a while?

Why do you always gotta go

f*** up your own future, huh?

What are you so afraid of, Zack?

Yeah, well, that's right, Laurette.

We can't live in the present forever.

Sh*t.

Okay, look, um,

Maybe you should just go back

to New York or Detroit or Baltimore.

You said you liked it there, remember?

Go back to one of them stations

where you used to work...

and ask them to give you

a second chance.

There's nothing wrong

with asking somebody for somethin'.

Why is that always

so f***in' hard for you?

You're a good D.J., Zack.

All you got to do is learn

to jerk people off a little.

That's all they really want,

you know.

Well, I never jerk people off,

and you f***in' know it, Laurette.

Okay. Okay, fine. Forget it.

I'm not talkin' to you

anymore, Zack. Okay?

I'm not talkin' to you anymore...

because you don't want

to f***in' be here.

And I'm not gonna let you

play with me anymore!

I hate you.

You're so damn stubborn and stupid.

And I hate you.

I hate you.

And I'm an idiot

for being with you.

You got me embarrassed

on my own time.

You got no f***in' future,

Zack, especially not with me.

Not the shoes.

Not the shoes.

- Not the shoes.

- No?

Come on, hit me, motherf***er!

Hit me! Hit me!

I guess it's over

between us, Laurette.

You know, Jack, we could

get some money together.

Except you always blowin' it.

You know, gamblin',

gettin' high, showin' off.

I have to have fun,

you know, baby?

Yeah, yeah, I know.

You always makin'

big, big plans for tomorrow.

You wanna know why?

'Cause you always f***in' up today.

Look at what happened to that white girl

Julie that you started out with.

She is a mess now.

All the girls you got

are so messed up, except me.

I could tell you a lot of things about

yourself you never even thought about.

Never even entered

your hatchet-shaped head.

But, you know,

you never can be too sure.

My mama used to say that

America is a big meltin' pot.

Because she used to say

when you bring it to a boil,

all the scum rises to the top.

So maybe there's hope

for you yet, Jack.

You listenin' to me?

Sh*t. You don't understand

any kind of people.

Maybe that's your problem.

You sure don't understand women at all.

And a pimp is at least

supposed to understand women.

If you was a good pimp, you would have

hit me by now or done somethin'.

But I can just lay here

and talk forever...

and you won't hear

a single word,

like you don't even speak English.

Lost inside all them plans you got.

But I know about you, Jack.

Jack.

You sure can talk, can't you, baby?

- Yes?

- Hey, Jack. It's me, Gig.

Ah, what do you want?

Man, I don't owe you anything.

Man, I got something I know

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Jim Jarmusch

James Robert Jarmusch (born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor, and composer. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing such films as Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down by Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989), Dead Man (1995), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), Broken Flowers (2005), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), and Paterson (2016). Stranger Than Paradise was added to the National Film Registry in December 2002. As a musician, Jarmusch has composed music for his films and released two albums with Jozef van Wissem. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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