classicsoncall If you go in expecting a coherent story line or some connecting thread among the five vignettes presented, you'll probably be disappointed. What I got out of the picture was the sense that throughout the world, people of different backgrounds and nationalities are all subject to similar kinds of human frailties and foibles, no matter if one lives in Los Angeles, Paris or Helsinki. The other two cities rounding out this peek around-the-world at a particular point in time are Rome and New York City. Some of the situations are rather bizarre, but to my mind, the most hilarious character in the picture was portrayed by Roberto Benigni as the cab driver in Rome. In a moment of reflection, he decides he must tell his confession to a priest who becomes his fare, and proceeds to drive the man into an unintended heart attack when he loses control of his medication. Perhaps the most poignant story is the last one in which a cabbie takes on three inebriated passengers and winds up relating a personal story that adds an unexpected perspective to their own unfortunate circumstances. All five of the unrelated tales have a way of making one think about how it would feel to walk in someone else's shoes, and perhaps, just how fortunate one is compared to the problems of the next person.

Dusan Petrovic The world is round so no matter where you go you are always in the center of it. This is one of the best Jim Jarmush movies. Great music, great photography, great acting, it's all good. It's magic." Why would I drive if I could be driven?" This is the first thing I think about it whenever I see this movie. It always remindes me on my country, my childhood and place I belong to. For the ones who didn't know, the really story about Christopher Marlow, the Devil as himself A.K.A Men in White is from the one of Jim Jarmusch movies. On the bottom of, line I like cab driving. Sincerelly, yours Dushan Petrovic from Belgrade, Serbia

GeneSiskel Jim Jarmusch is an acquired taste, at best. This 1991 movie, which was produced, directed, and written by Jarmusch, is slow, self-indulgent, and horribly scripted. Five scenes, in five dark cities, play out at night. These are taxi scenes, but take it from me, folks: I have driven a taxi in two cities, only one of them dark, and every night that I drove I returned home with at least one story to relate that was better than these. It is painful to watch Gina Rowlands or Winona Ryder, for example, deliver lines that make them look like beginning actors. Only Roberto Benigni, who probably wrote his own comic bit, sustains any interest. Enjoy another film.

blanche-2 Jim Jarmusch does a great job with vignettes, as we've seen in "Mystery Train" and "Coffee and Cigarettes." Here he unites the world with the same incident -- someone taking a cab -- but different experiences in different cultures.Gena Rowlands is a casting agent landing in LA and being picked up by an offbeat taxi driver (Winona Ryder); Armin Muller-Stahl is an ex-German clown driving a cab in New York who picks up Giancarlo Esposito (who ends up driving) and later Rosie Perez; Isaach DeBankole is a taxi driver in Paris who throws three idiots out of his cab and picks up a blind girl (Beatrice Dalle); Roberto Begnini is a taxi driver in Rome who confesses all kinds of sex acts to the bishop he's driving (Paolo Bonacelli); and Matti Pelonpaa is a cab driver in Helsinki who tells his sad story to his passengers.Each vignette is wonderful and indicative of the country in which the characters reside. My favorite is the New York City sequence, which is out and out hysterical, with Armin Muller-Stahl, Giancarlo Esposito and Rosie Perez, all of whom are fabulous. And if you ever lived in New York, you can relate to the difficulty in getting a cab that will take you to the boroughs, especially late at night - it was all so typical, as the scenes in the other countries probably were as well.I would have to put what is practically a monologue by Roberto Begnini next. It's definitely the most absurd as he confesses the grossest things to the overwhelmed bishop. Very black comedy.If I have a least favorite, it's the first one, as it was fairly predictable and Winona Ryder as a taxi driver with aspirations to be a mechanic was unconvincing. Gena Rowlands, however, looked gorgeous and has an in joke while on the phone: "I'm supposed to have dinner with Shera and Peter tonight," meaning Shera Danese and Peter Falk, best friends of the Cassavetes.In "Mystery Train," Jarmusch shows people visiting Sun Records and ties them all together with one incident, and we see what each character is doing at the time it happens. Very clever. Here, the thing that unites these characters is a cab ride.Very, very enjoyable, with lively characterizations, beautifully directed. Jarmusch is a quirky talent but a great one nonetheless.