THE DEAD DON'T DIE

Director Jim Jarmusch attacks the zombie genre with gusto in his latest film, The Dead Don’t Die. Throughout popular culture, zombies have been done to death — so to speak. So why would Jarmusch bother to try his hand at the genre? For starters, he has tailored the material  for his favorite actors, Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, and Iggy Pop. There’s also a hodgepodge of celebrity cameos, including Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Carol Kane, and cult director/actor Larry Fessenden.  Jarmusch’s vampire film, Only Lovers Left Alive (2103), reflected serious directorial engagement, mixing decadent intellectuals and punk rockers. Zombies receive a more back-of-the-hand treatment, with environmental disaster and consumerism (with a tip of the hat to George Romero) the nebulous political targets. Essentially, The Dead Don’t Die is a gag fest filled with horror tropes performed by a dream cast. The set-up and jokes generally lampoon the banality and the ordinariness of small-town life. The effort is a trifle, but a cleverly amusing one.
Murray and Driver play sheriffs Cliff Robertson and Ron Peterson in the one-diner town of Middletown. 
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