Tom Waits Week: Tom Onscreen

Down by Law (1986) – Indie director Jim Jarmusch gave Waits a prominent role in his low budged black-and-white movie about convicts on the run. Waits plays Zack, a falsely accused DJ, who escapes with Bob (Roberto Benigni) and Jack (John Lurie). Yes, two of the leads have rhyming names. If that irritates you, it’s only going to get worse. Frankly, I find this movie pretty hard to get through, but Tom is in just about ever scene, and he’s really entertaining to watch. He’s not a great actor here, but he’s interesting.