Stranger Than Paradise
86
metacriticBased on 13 Critics

Release Date: April 17th, 1991

DVD Release Date: September 5th, 2000

R |1 hr 30 min

Plot Summary

New York City layabout Willie (John Lurie) and his dopey sidekick, Eddie (Richard Edson), get by on TV dinners and beer financed by haphazard card-sharking. Willie gets an unwelcome visit from his Hungarian teen cousin, Eva (Eszter Balint), but, just as he warms to her, she ditches him for her aunt in Cleveland. Impulsively, Willie and Eddie take a road trip to pick up Eva, after which they head out to find fortune and paradise in Florida -- or at least alleviation from their constant boredom.

Cast: John Lurie, Eszter Balint, Richard Edson, Cecillia Stark, Danny Rosen, Rammellzee, Tom DiCillo, Richard Boes

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Genres: Comedy drama

Production Co: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen

Keywords: Car, Friendship, Witty, New York City, 1980s, Offbeat, Best friend, Hotel

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 100
    Roger EbertChicago Sun-Times

    It is like no other film you've seen, and yet you feel right at home in it. It seems to be going nowhere, and knows every step it wants to make. It is a constant, almost kaleidoscopic experience of discovery, and we try to figure out what the film is up to and it just keeps moving steadfastly ahead, fade in, fade out, fade in, fade out, making a mountain out of a molehill. show more

  • 80
    Empire

    Jim Jarmusch tried to create the essential road movie and although he didn't manage that, he has still created a classic that captures perfectly the life of a drifter in New York. show more

  • 88
    Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)

    From beginning to end, Jarmusch carries it off. His vision is stranger than paradise, and his talent is odder than hell. [16 Nov 1984]

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