Jim Jarmusch's surreal, darkly comic Western is one of those rare gems in which every element seems to come together perfectly. Johnny Depp is brilliant, at a time before his performances became dictated by mannerisms, as Cleveland accountant William Blake, who arrives in Machine, to work for local steel magnate John Dickinson. However, having turned up a month late, his position has been filled, and with no money to leave, finds himself stuck in the small, miserable town Machine. It's not long before he meets a women and embarks on a journey unlike anything which has ever featured in a Western before. On his journey Blake is befriended by Nobody, an Indian with a colourful past, who believes Depp's Blake to be the real William Blake, and spends much of the film quoting from the great poet.
The film is littered with cameo's and supporting actors including Robert Mitchum (as Dickinson), Gabriel Byrne. Steve Buscemi, Lance Henriksen, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina and Crispin Glover.
Shot in black and white by Robby Muller, the film is a beautiful as it is beguiling, and along with Johnny Depp's performance - a mixture of bewilderment and a sense of a character completely out of place in a world he has little understanding of - the film offers up a tonally ambiguity which veers from absurdist humour to profound philosophical musing.
The film is also notable for Neil Young stunningly evocative score. Recorded live Young's guitar helps solidify the mood of the film, enhancing its fatalistic aura.
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