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Jul 31, 2014lukasevansherman rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I saw this years ago and thought it was pretentious, slow, and boring. And seeing it again, it still is those things, but it's also one of the more idiosyncratic, eccentric takes on the western, a genre that has been in decline for decades, but saw a minor revival in the 90s. Jarmusch brings his usual off-kilter approach to this most American of genres and it is refreshing to see Native American characters treated seriously and the masculine violence inherent in westerns shown as sick. Johnny Depp plays the cipher called William Blake, who goes on a kind of Odyssey, accompanied by a Native American named Nobody, encountering bounty hunters, cannibals, psychotic Christians, and more. It's one of the few psychedelic westerns out there. The amazing cast includes John Hurt, Lance Henriksen, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, Gabriel Byrne, and Robert Mitchum in his last role. One of the weirdest films of the 90s. Music by Neil Young.