The Dead Don’t Die movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Dead Don’t Die

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: C+

IN A NUTSHELL:

I kind of thought the whole zombie craze was over now, especially with the end of The Walking Dead Season 9 DVD and it seems like this movie should have come out a few years ago, if at all. It has the elements for a fun, knowing comedy: dry and dark humor, Bill Murray, Adam Driver, quirkiness, zombies, and a capable director (Jim Jarmusch), but they just don’t add up to anything great. You hear the phrase, “This is going to end badly” several times and, you know what? It does.

If you want a really fun comedy zombie movie with Bill Murray, watch Zombieland instead. It’s way better.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Some profanity, including F-bombs.
You see a dead, skinned animal.
Bloody, gory zombies who eat body parts.
Violence (mostly by humans killing zombies).

THEMES:

Ummm….Be prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse?
Friendship
The film tries to make a social commentary on the world today, but the delivery is….uh….dead.

THINGS I LIKED:

There are some running gags that tie the movie together in a knowing way. For example, the characters talk about the “Dead Men Don’t Die” song which plays quite often in the film.
Tilda Swinton always offers interesting characters in every movie she’s in.
Who doesn’t like Danny Glover? Some other short-lived characters include an amusing cast of Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, Tom Waits, Juka Sabbat, and RZA. One who sticks around a little longer is Chloe Sevigny. I haven’t seen Rosie Perez in anything in a long time! It was good to see her again.
it’s very self-aware.
Adam Driver in a little Smart car was amusing.
Even in bad movies, I always enjoy watching Bill Murray.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It kind of felt like writer/director Jim Jarmusch just decided to make a zombie movie with buddy Bill Murray while they both sat around drunk thinking that everyone was going to be hilarious.
Nothing really starts happening until the first 29 minutes. Well, at least, that’s how long you have to wait to see any zombies.
I suppose that part of the schtick is that everyone is pretty easy-going about the whole zombie invasion, but the result is a lethargic movie. Some would call this a deadpan comedy, but the end result is “Meh.” Night of the Living Deadpan.
It’s really easy to spot the expendable humans who will be attacked and eaten.
The final scene is a complete let-down and even confusing. It ends so abruptly and in such a meaningless way.

FUNNY LINES:

“Even dead, you reak of Chardonnay. Cheap Chardonnay.” – Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) talking about a dead body
“How’s she looking?” – Adam Driver “Well, she’s not getting any older.” – Cliff Robertson talking about a dead body
“She’s strange.” – Mindy Morrisonn (Chloe Sevigny) * “She’s Scottish.” – Cliff Robertson talking about Tilda Hinton’s character

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY BETTER:

Zombieland