Thoughts on Mystery Train

via Giphy

"Was that a gun?"

"Probably. This is America."

Mystery Train, written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, doesn't settle the debate between Elvis Presley fans and Carl Perkins fans. It does, however, excellently showcase nine characters over the course of roughly 24 hours in Memphis. Most of the story is spent sometime after dark and into the wee hours.

One could easily make an "anything can happen -- and does" movie set during that time period. Mystery Train has elements of the unbelievable, but on the whole, it tries enticing the audience with the ugly and mundane.

"Wait a minute, is this the one where the guy has to go to Graceland and it turns out to be Elvis? I think I heard this one 100 times. Almost everyone in Memphis has picked up Elvis' ghost hitchhiking."

Far From Yokohama: I simultaneously liked this story the most and the least. On the one hand, Mitsuko (Youki Kudoh) and Jun (Masatoshi Nagase) could carry their own movie. I would have loved to have seen more of their interactions with unique American experiences like going on a guided tour, or seeing more of their dynamic as a couple. On the other hand, they are the least intertwined of the characters, minus a couple chance meetings.

A Ghost: There's a healthy amount of black comedy in Mystery Train. It's more apparent in the next segment, but the story of Luisa (Nicoletta Braschi) has its moments. She's a widow who's going to eventually transport her husband's coffin to Italy. Who knew there was so much paperwork involved? I suppose I get my wish from "Yokohama" in "A Ghost," because its whole point seems to be Luisa reacting to the Americans around her, from Dee Dee (Elizabeth Bracco) to the titular visitor.

Lost in Space: If the first two stories are about visitors getting used to their circumstances, the last one might be about a resident learning he's as isolated as ever. I'm talking about Charlie (Steve Buscemi), a Jersey transplant who is ill-equipped to deal with the circumstances he and acquaintance Will (Rick Aviles) are dragged into by Johnny/Elvis (Joe Strummer). Strummer and Aviles are great opposite Buscemi, but I think he gave the best performance of the segment and maybe the movie.

"Me and Dee Dee, you know, we were never actually married."

"What? She never told me that."

"I wanted to marry her. But you know Dee Dee. She always said, we'll have to wait and see how things went."

"Great. ... You mean after all this shit, you ain't even my fucking brother in law?"

Our seven characters end up at the Arcade Hotel, watched over by Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Cinqué Lee. The two men have an amusing and not oversold dynamic, a little weary and a little lazy. The Arcade, closed since 1983, eventually was demolished in 1993. Similar to Slacker and Austin, Texas, there's a unique feeling when watching Mystery Train. It's having documentation of a likely bygone era.

Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- Box Office: Grossing over $1.5 million on a $2.8 million budget, this came in at No. 153 for 1989.

-- Critic's Corner: "Buoyantly funny," according to Vincent Canby. David Denby disagreed, feeling Jarmusch "has pushed hipsterism and cool about as far as they can go, and that isn't nearly far enough. Hal Hinson called the film "Jarmusch's least engaging, and the first in which his bohemian posturing actually becomes an irritant." Despite this, Peter Travers felt it was "the least standoffish Jarmusch effort to date."

-- I have to admit, I was expecting a twist during "Lost in Space," that it would turn out Elvis, Will and Charlie would also just hear the gunshot and we'd never get to find out who fired it and why. But that would have been pretty disappointing.

-- Hey, It's the pre-Internet Age!: Remember a time when a TV show which hadn't aired for over 20 years could enter into obscurity?

-- Today in Music:

-- "(after Charlie's dropped a bottle) Man, you've got a curse on you. As sure as the moon rolls around the world." "It was just an accident. (walks away, leaves the broken glass) I'm sorry." "(to Bellboy) ... You gotta clean that up." *Bellboy grabs a broom and pan, gathers the glass, goes outside and flings the shards into the street*

-- Next: All Dogs Go to Heaven. On deck: Harlem Nights.