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Mystery Train

Play trailer Poster for Mystery Train R Released Nov 17, 1989 1h 53m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A seedy hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, provides the backdrop for three separate tales, featuring everything from a kitsch-obsessed Japanese couple (Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô) to a trio of amateur robbers (Joe Strummer, Rick Aviles, Steve Buscemi) who discover the true nature of their relationship during a botched heist. Linking the stories together is the hotel's eccentric and creepy night clerk (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) as well as the spirit of Elvis Presley.
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Mystery Train

Mystery Train

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Critics Consensus

Mystery Train meanders by design, but it never goes off the rails, retaining its deadpan cool throughout.

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Critics Reviews

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John Pym Sight & Sound Mystery Train, evocatively photographed by the clear-eyed outsider Robby Muller, is occasionally touched with comic inspiration. Jan 11, 2020 Full Review Chris Nashawaty Entertainment Weekly The three-part structure of Mystery Train is still a bit shambling and slight, but there's an undeniable air of deadpan cool that permeates the film and gives it a haunting sense of place. Rated: B+ Jun 10, 2010 Full Review Geoff Andrew Time Out Happily, Jarmusch's formal inventiveness is framed by a rare flair for zany entertainment ... Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) The grand pleasure of Mystery Train is seeing how a film with all the possibilities of being boring and soporific has a special dose of adrenaline within every demented sequence. [Full review in Spanish] Nov 3, 2022 Full Review Catherine Saalfield OutWeek Jarmusch says, 'Sometimes two people going to have an ice cream cone can be much more dramatic or insightful than two people shooting at each other.' What makes Mystery Train different is that he gives us both. May 20, 2020 Full Review Michael Guarnieri The Spool It's a film about atmosphere and about feeling more than anything else, and in its own fashion succeeds remarkably. Jan 16, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Magga L This movie made me love people watching, it made me realize that we truly never know what people are doing Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/12/24 Full Review Aender S Great movie in Jim Jarmusch's typical style of three stories tied loosely together. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/25/24 Full Review Logan M Classic Jim Jarmusch. If you like quirky movies, comedy movies or independent movies, this is a must-watch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/12/23 Full Review TheFilmReviewer 1 Showcasing a virtually unknown cast at the time, Mystery Train is a brilliantly original dramedy with excellent directing and writing by Jim Jarmusch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/02/23 Full Review Tony S In all of Jarmusch's other movies, I really don't mind the meandering as long as the character that meanders is interesting. It doesn't mean that something necessarily engaging needs to happen, but in this movie it is clear that the main character is the director's love for Americana and Memphis. Mystery Train has a few good characters, like the clerk and bellboy (to the point where I wish it was about them), great cinematography, and a great soundtrack, but in every other aspect it's dull. All three stories have a peppering of Elvis, but in reality, it could have been literally anyone. The template is already there in the first story. None of the stories converge outside of a few incorporations, and nothing even justifies the structure of the movie. It's just 100 minutes of rarely amusing scenes of badly padded dialogue in vignettes with bizarre allusions that only serve to question the character's artificiality. Lost in Space, because Buscemi is lost in space with those two idiots, and that's why he doesn't just leave. That's great. It's also not interesting. The movie insists on being an anti-climax, subverting the dreaded conventions of storytelling to its detriment. It's definitely not Jim Jarmusch's best. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/18/22 Full Review william d Uneven yet still entertaining. Youki Kudoh is a delight. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Mystery Train

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Cast & Crew

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Jim Jarmusch

Director

Masatoshi Nagase

Jun

Nicoletta Braschi

Luisa

Joe Strummer

Johnny aka Elvis

Yûki Kudô

Mitsuko

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Night Clerk

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Mystery Train

Mystery Train (1989) Mystery Train (1989) Mystery Train (1989) Mystery Train (1989) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A seedy hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, provides the backdrop for three separate tales, featuring everything from a kitsch-obsessed Japanese couple (Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô) to a trio of amateur robbers (Joe Strummer, Rick Aviles, Steve Buscemi) who discover the true nature of their relationship during a botched heist. Linking the stories together is the hotel's eccentric and creepy night clerk (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) as well as the spirit of Elvis Presley.
Director
Jim Jarmusch
Producer
Jim Stark
Screenwriter
Jim Jarmusch
Production Co
JVC Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 17, 1989, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Runtime
1h 53m
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