--- title: "Dead Man: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/dead-man/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/dead-man" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Dead Man (1995): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond positively to Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, with praise centred on its deadpan humour, visual style and revision of western conventions. The favourable reviews find purpose in its episodic journey through a frontier shaped by death and exploitation. Johnny Depp’s central performance draws particular praise, while even some reservations leave room for admiration of the imagery. Slant Magazine makes the strongest case for its treatment of violence, environmental damage and indigenous perspectives without romanticising them. The division concerns whether the slow pace gives the film substance or exposes a shortage of it. The more enthusiastic critics find quiet irony and thoughtful genre revision; the mixed reviews find overlength, uncertain momentum and heavy-handed philosophy. RogerEbert.com admires the lonely black-and-white photography but objects to Neil Young’s score and finds little reward in the lingering. Variety likewise praises the visuals and performances while finding the narrative insufficiently propulsive. ## Slant Magazine — Zach Campbell Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 May 2004. The critic praises Jarmusch's revisionist western for its incisive critique of the American West as a place of death and exploitation rather than opportunity, highlighting its nuanced take on violence, environmental degradation, and indigenous perspectives without romanticization. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/dead-man/) ## Empire — Bob McCabe Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic describes Johnny Depp entering Jarmusch's impressionistic, darkly deadpan vision of the frontier land in this elegiac, episodic and thoughtful Western. It subtly reinterprets the genre and delivers Jarmusch's most accomplished, if not necessarily his most accessible film to date. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dead-man-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Jack Mathews Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 May 1996. The shortened version is called Jarmusch’s best movie, with quirky characters and familiar themes played out at higher stakes and greater purpose. The critic singles out Depp’s riveting central performance. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-10-ca-2689-story.html) ## The AV Club — Maria Schneider Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 26 April 2002. The critic defends the film against accusations of pretension, noting its black humor, thematic echoes of Jarmusch's earlier work, and effective use of quiet irony and visuals to suit the western genre, calling it as strong as anything the director has done. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/dead-man-1798197459) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 2/4. 28 June 1996. The critic finds the film strange, slow and unrewarding, providing more time to ponder its meaning than actual meaning. He singles out the black-and-white photography for its moody loneliness while criticizing the Neil Young score. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dead-man-1996) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 10 May 1996. The film begins with sensational grotesquerie that sets up high expectations for a surreal western but fails to fulfill them, turning into a quirky allegory with brilliant flashes amid philosophic ham-handedness. The critic notes its droll hip sensibility will delight some but induce yawns in others. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/10/movies/film-review-weirdos-and-allegory-in-the-old-west.html) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 1995. Festival review. The film resembles a pokey stroll rather than an exciting ride, with piquant humor and eccentric mood but undermined by unassertiveness and considerable overlength. The critic praises the refined visual style and Depp and Farmer’s performances while noting the diffused impact and lack of narrative propulsion. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/dead-man-1200441549/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 10 June 2022. Jarmusch's fabulously eccentric western features Johnny Depp as a meek accountant traversing a hellish frontier with a Native American guide. The supporting cast, including a 77-year-old Robert Mitchum in one of his final roles, stands out. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/dead-man-1995-review-jim-jarmuschs-fabulously-eccentric-western-22bzkwb39) ## Time Out — GA 10 September 2012. Jarmusch's film is a bizarre, funny, almost mystical take on the Western that charts the sentimental education of clerk William Blake. It features deadpan humour, superb imagery from cameraman Robby Müller and a haunting electric guitar score by Neil Young. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/dead-man) ## Eye for Film — Anton Bitel 5 January 2009. Jarmusch's film is a quirky, revisionist western and road movie that follows an accountant turned outlaw on a spiritual journey through the American frontier. The critic singles out its poetic beauty, understated violence, haunting Neil Young score, and Depp's ethereal performance as making it a low-key classic. [Read the review](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/dead-man-film-review-by-anton-bitel) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/dead-man.md