Exciting and New · Jason, Andy, and Dana

Down By Law

January 7, 2026·47 min·4 clips

Three hosts dive into Jim Jarmusch's 1986 black-and-white film 'Down by Law,' starting their weekly 1986 movie breakdown.

1. Exciting and New covers Jim Jarmusch's 1986 film Down by Law, selected by co-host Zach for the podcast's 1986 instalment. 2. The panel — Jason, Andy, Dana, and Zach — provides no guest; all four are recurring co-hosts with deep pop-culture knowledge of 80s film. 3. The core question the episode addresses is whether Down by Law holds up as a prestige arthouse film or is an overlong, slow-paced exercise in style over substance. 4. Tom Waits, playing a character also named Zach, is praised by the panel for his presence and his Rain Dogs album tracks that bookend the film, though hosts note only two songs appear in a 107-minute runtime. 5. Roberto Benigni, playing Roberto, is identified as the standout performer; one host notes this was Benigni's first-ever trip to America, which explains how little screen time was devoted to explaining his character's backstory. 6. The film's setup — two men separately framed and jailed, one for having a body in his trunk, one for soliciting a 12-year-old planted by police — is described as slow and confusing, with hosts asking why both men were set up without any conspiracy being revealed. 7. Hosts trace the title's origin: 'down by law' was 1920s African-American Great Migration slang for a recent arrival who had mastered their new city, later repurposed in prison slang to mean someone trusted enough to join a gang. 8. The cinematography, shot by Robby Müller in black and white on the streets of New Orleans, is compared to Tarantino's visual sensibility; Jason says 'I bet it's on his list of favourite movies.' 9. Jim Jarmusch's background — dropping out of film school to fund his 1980 debut Permanent Vacation with scholarship money — is discussed as context for the film's rough pacing, which a host calls 'a student film' and 'his third movie in 86.' 10. Ellen Barkin, playing Laurette, prompts a tangent on her career including The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and 49 episodes of Animal Kingdom. 11. Rockets Red Glare, who played Gig (the character who sets up Tom Waits's character), is noted as having died in 2001 at age 52 from kidney failure, liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatitis C — 'everything,' as one host puts it. 12. Roberto Benigni's thick Italian accent caused AI-generated subtitles to render 'I am in love' as 'ham in love' throughout the courtship scenes, which the panel finds amusing. 13. The rabbit-catching scene in the Louisiana swamp is cited as the episode's consensus favourite scene, with Benigni cooking the rabbit and saying 'it tastes like tires' as the film's most quotable moment. 14. The hosts debate the escape sequence, noting Jarmusch cuts away from the prison break entirely — jumping straight to the characters already outside — which the panel finds anticlimactic. 15. A discussion of subtitles versus dubbing starts from the Italian dialogue in Down by Law and expands to Squid Game, Narcos, and the German series Dark, which Dana recommends and says she has watched three times. 16. The film was dedicated to French actress Pascal Ogier, who died of a heart attack at 25 after an overdose, and writer Enzo Angari, who died at 37 — both in the year before the film's release in 1986. 17. The episode is conversational and free-associating, with the panel frequently interrupting to identify actors from other films; the tone is enthusiastic but unfiltered, with profanity throughout. 18. Research is presented by one host mid-discussion, including IMDB background details, parent's guide content warnings, and radio station call signs Jarmusch used as models for Tom Waits's DJ character. 19. Fans of 80s arthouse cinema, Tom Waits, and Roberto Benigni who want an informal companion discussion to the film will enjoy this episode. 20. Viewers who have not seen Down by Law and want to avoid narrative details should note that the escape outcome is discussed openly throughout.

As heard by us

A loose Jarmusch hang that keeps the movie, the title, and the trivia all in play.

Down by Law reads as a loose Jarmusch conversation with the 1986 pick at its center. The panel keeps drifting into his music videos, Coffee and Cigarettes, Gimme Danger, and the acting detours that make him feel like part of a wider scene, not only a director.

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Why you'd press play

You want a scrappy Jarmusch hang that keeps opening new tabs.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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