Film Review - The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Zombie films are an interesting topic to me. There was a time when they were among the most popular of the horror genre, thanks to the late and great George A. Romero who launched the idea of zombies into fame with Night of the Living Dead. Since then, zombies have spread into TV shows such as The Walking Dead, one of the most popular shows ever, video games such as Death Road to Canada (I know that there's more notable examples of zombie games but that game really rules (no this is not a sponsored)), and more. Zombies in the film industry, though, have seemingly become less and less relevant over time, especially throughout this decade with a few exceptions here and there.

Then comes in The Dead Don't Die, a dark comedy from the mind of beloved indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and with the inclusion of an all-star cast. It's unlikely that this film would've fully revived zombie films, but it certainly could've offered a clever and fascinating take on the topic. Unfortunately.... it doesn't do that either.

The Dead Don't Die is an underwhelming satire that admittingly shares an important message, but it not only fails to create something interesting out of it, it can't manage to be entertaining either.

Easily the biggest issue is Jarmusch's writing. I have no doubt that his past work is great (this is the first film of his I've seen), but this film has easily the most stale dialogue I've seen all year so far. It feels as repetitive and boresome as ever. Lazy would be the best way to describe it as many lines are actually repeated, possibly as an attempt at symbolism, but most of the time it just comes off as awkward. The comedy in particular is where it struggles, offering a couple of decent laughs but often than not it fails to be clever.

I feel bad for the cast attached to this. The performances are actually the best thing about the film, with Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton being the standouts. Yet for some reason, the majority of the actors had to read their lines in the most monotonous voice possible, making the dialogue even more problematic than it already is. Other than that, most of the cast was at least decent and clearly doing what they can with what they're given.

Despite the actors giving their best effort, the characters they're playing are pretty forgettable. They either have not nearly enough screen time to leave a lasting impact, thus being wasted (poor Steve Buscemi), or fail to be interesting at all, especially the children at the juvenile center in the town where the film takes place, who add literally nothing to the film. The characters fully rely on the actors playing them to make the viewer care about them.

The film on a technical level isn't nearly as bad but is still problematic. The editing is questionable throughout, with some effects added in feeling like something that could've been done with iMovie and the cinematography is far from terrible, albeit bland. The makeup work, however, is rather impressive and make the zombies feel pretty realistic, it gets a point for that at least, as opposed to at least sixty subtracted ones so far. The music is decent as well, but if I have to hear Sturgill Simpson's "The Dead Don't Die" ONE MORE TIME.....well, let's just say that I'm as tired of it as Bill Murray was in this.

So right now, it's apparent that a lot of this films problems are due to Jim Jarmusch. As I said earlier, I'm sure his other films are of quality, and if that is the case then he just didn't care for once and put as much effort into this as a high school student would put into an assignment that was finished just minutes before it was due.

This is easily best seen with the last ten to fifteen minutes of the film, which I won't spoil here. However, I will say that it feels like he had no idea how to end it, so he just decided to use whatever he thought of and slap it in there, making for a unpleasant combination of it's failed comedy and poor character development.

The Dead Don't Die does show potential, and I do feel like it could've been something special considering how well liked the earlier films from Jarmusch are and the cast that he had to work with here. But instead of giving it his all, he just decided to force this out as a time waster. And a time waster it is, as it's a waste of time for Jarmusch, the cast he had, and the people who watched it. When you waste Tom Waits and Steve Buscemi's time, that's when you know you made a bad movie.

Final Grade: D