--- title: "Down by Law: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/down-by-law/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/down-by-law" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 14 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." --- # Down by Law (1986): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 14 reviews: 14 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly positive about Down by Law, with praise centred on Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan humour, the three leads and Robby Müller’s precise black-and-white photography. Critics find warmth beneath the bickering between Tom Waits, John Lurie and Roberto Benigni, whose irrepressible cheerfulness receives particular attention. The dreamlike New Orleans setting also earns repeated praise, while the inmates’ awkward companionship gives the sparse story more feeling than its cool manner initially suggests. The spread runs from qualified affection to enthusiasm, rather than any outright dissent. RogerEbert.com finds the film slightly overlong and less interested in deeper themes than in its three misfits. The AV Club notes schematic plotting, while Eye for Film questions the loose, sketch-like structure. These reservations largely concern how much the slender narrative can sustain; even the more cautious reviews admire the performances, visual craft or quiet warmth. ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 5/5. 9 September 2014. The critic calls it a milestone in American independent cinema that proved DIY film could be heartfelt, charming, wise and silly all at once. Robby Müller’s stately monochrome photography is singled out for lifting the semi-improvised prison story into the realm of Proper Art. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/down-by-law) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 19 September 1986. The critic calls the film an unqualified delight and a fable of poetic density with extraordinary performances by John Lurie, Tom Waits, and Roberto Benigni. He singles out its dreamlike impression of life and Jarmusch's skill in crafting a narrative unique to cinema. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/19/movies/film-jarmusch-s-down-by-law.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 1986. The critic praises Jarmusch for staying true to his original vision with this inkily comic dream of a film featuring a poker-faced fairy tale in New Orleans and the bayous. She highlights the beauty and precision of the black-and-white images by Robby Müller and the performances by Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-03-ca-3865-story.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2014. The critic praises Jarmusch’s deadpan comedy as effortlessly laidback and superbly elegant, highlighting its hypnotic score, stupendous performances and monochrome cinematography by Robby Müller. He singles out the dreamlike emptiness of the New Orleans setting and Benigni’s surreal but controlled performance. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/11/down-by-law-review-jim-jarmusch-tom-waits) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2014. Jarmusch’s stylish black-and-white prison romp features offbeat humour matching its perfectly cast stars. Mutual irritation among the inmates merges into grudging friendship, with wit that is both broad and smart, soulful and silly. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/down-by-law-review/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 December 2016. Jarmusch filters his sparse sensibility through a bare-bones jailbreak account of three inmates’ escape from a New Orleans prison, shot in stark monochrome and focused on prisoner dynamics. The constant bickering among Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni almost obscures their shared humanity, with random acts of mercy suggesting a compassionate look at regular folks. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2016/12/every-jim-jarmusch-movie-ranked.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 1986. The critic finds the film a true original that grows on the viewer, though it runs a bit long and leans heavily on its premise of three misfits rather than deeper themes. He praises the performances, especially Roberto Benigni's irrepressible cheerfulness, and notes its collage-like quality drawn from film noir and blues imagery. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/down-by-law-1986) ## Slant Magazine — Joseph Jon Lanthier Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 July 2012. Jarmusch imagines the boiling, boggy New Orleans as a purgatory for lost souls in this modest vacation from his globe-spanning approach, with the thin plot haunted by filmic antecedents yet determined to wrench the world to the characters' needs. The three stumble into a paradise only the gawkiest could have dreamed up after enduring a private reverie of hell. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/down-by-law/) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 November 2002. The film is a richly textured look at old New Orleans and the enchanted bayou, with stark black-and-white photography and music by its stars. It champions down-and-out antiheroes with a quiet warmth toward their reluctant camaraderie beneath the schematic plotting and deadpan spirit. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/down-by-law-1798198070) ## Paste Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 March 2023. Down By Law is ranked as one of Jarmusch's quintessential films for its deliberate avoidance of conventional action sequences in favor of character quirks and dialogue. The piece highlights how the film expresses the director's fascination with individual mannerisms and American pop culture through its inmates' interactions. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jim-jarmusch/every-jim-jarmusch-movie-ranked) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B+. 17 July 2012. In this retrospective tied to the Criterion Blu-ray re-release, the film is described as a curious, sweat-soaked, humorous and elegiac story of outsiders and fuckups who find friendship, hope and opportunity. It is praised as an exceedingly charming and heartwarming jazz riff of a movie with languid pacing and gorgeous black-and-white photography that finds both melancholy and joyful notes. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-films-of-jim-jarmusch-a-retrospective-20120717/) ## Collider — Thomas Butt Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 July 2025. Jarmusch's third feature cements his idiosyncratic style with this off-kilter prison drama that repurposes pulp tropes into a philosophical rumination on freedom and human connection. The critic praises the wry, achingly sad conversations among the three leads and the film's deeply felt emotional core beneath its cool, deadpan surface. [Read the review](https://collider.com/down-by-law-jim-jarmusch/) ## NME — Tom Howard Rating 4/5. 16 September 2014. The re-release highlights Jarmusch at a creative peak following Stranger Than Paradise, with Tom Waits, John Lurie and Roberto Benigni effectively portraying cellmates who overcome mutual dislike to attempt an escape. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-15635-324881) ## Eye for Film — Ben Sillis Rating 3.5/5. 18 October 2005. The critic views the film as an eccentric, dark and daft low-budget comedy in the vein of Jarmusch's other early works, one that simply basks in its own coolness. Praise goes to the hilarious fish-out-of-water performance by Roberto Benigni and Robby Müller's superb black-and-white photography of the New Orleans setting, though the loose, sketch-like structure is noted as a flaw. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/down-by-law-film-review-by-ben-sillis) --- © 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/down-by-law.md