The Dead Don't Die stars Bill Murray and Adam Driver as police officers Cliff Robertson and Ronnie Peterson, respectively, as they investigate a series of murders and animal disappearances in their small town of Centerville. It soon turns out this is all the result of zombie attacks, which itself occurred due to polar fracking that altered the Earth’s rotation. They drive around from house to house, warning both the locals and visitors of the impending attacks as the zombies soon overrun the town.
Despite the set up, this isn’t exactly a gore-filled action-horror movie in the vein of 28 Days Later or any of George Romero’s films, which is partially what the trailers imply this to be. The film is directed by acclaimed indie director Jim Jarmusch, known much more for his laidback, character-driven pieces that contain quirky dialogue that typically drive most scenes. And The Dead Don’t Die is no different than films like Broken Flowers, Down By Law, and Coffee and Cigarettes. Except this time, zombies are involved.
There are some scenes of zombies mauling helpless townspeople, though these moments come few and far in between. Most of the movie consist of Murray and Driver engaging in long conversations about the town and its many residents, along with other subplots involving the townspeople themselves. There are stories involving Tom Waits as the bizarre Hermit Bob who acts partially as a narrator, Danny Glover as hardware store owner Hank who frequents a diner where the initial attacks occur, and Selena Gomez as Zoe, one of three young tourists who are staying at a motel just as the attacks begin.
Nearly all of these stories tie into the main narrative in some way, shape, or form. The only one that doesn’t is a random subplot involving three teenagers at a juvenile detention center who remain mostly holed up there during the entire attacks and make running commentary on the situation. Not once do they interact with anyone else from the movie, and it seems their entire purpose was to make some not-so-subtle commentary on how the environment caused the zombie uprising.
The political and social commentary is easily the most obvious aspect where the movie falls short. Jarmusch is known for his usually subtle approach to storytelling, though there are parts of this movie that are the total opposite of subtle. This mainly occurs with the teenagers’ storyline, where they will repeatedly talk directly to the camera - in the guise that they are watching television - and directly explain to the audience how this ties into real world issues.
While Jarmusch has noble intentions with this commentary, using characters who otherwise clearly don’t fit into the overall narrative comes off as forced and heavy-handed. And it also doesn’t feel needed, as there are more references to the real world ties made by other characters who played a part in the story that come off as a bit more natural in terms of dialogue. The film would have benefited by removing the juvie storyline and not only would the film been a bit tighter paced for saving about ten to fifteen minutes of screen time, but most of the commentary would have been more subtle and implied, and overall come off as more clever.
When the movie doesn’t get bogged down in its all-too-direct metaphors, it’s actually quite enjoyable to watch, even if there are aspects of it that may come off as divisive. The film relies heavily on dry humor, to the point where characters rarely give off strong emotion. It’s a really low energy movie, where everyone casually reacts to the events that play out, even some of the more gruesome moments.
There’s also quite a bit of meta humor here, with characters seemingly aware that they’re in a movie, and making references such as the movie’s theme song and commenting on the script. There are even a few instances where it’s even implied that the movie’s actually focusing on the actors themselves and not actual characters, with Murray commenting on how long he’s worked with Jarmusch, for example. The meta humor makes for some funny jokes, though there are times where this falls flat, mainly in which some jokes are constantly repeated, mainly brought up just for the sake of a reference than an actual joke.
Despite some jokes that don’t work, there are still plenty of funny setups, with characters firing off bitter, sarcastic comments as a zombie approaches them, or sometimes brushing off the deaths of other characters they had interacted with in scenes prior. While on paper this may sound a bit cruel, it works so well thanks to its incredibly talented cast. The film contains an ensemble of famous performers, to the point where it even gets famous musicians like Iggy Pop and the RZA to appear in two scenes each that last no more than five minutes total of screen time, but manage to make a lasting impression thanks to some sharp delivery - in some cases, even if they’re a zombie.
The two though who really carry this film are Murray and Driver. Bill Murray is a natural at deadpan comedy, and his bitter, almost uncaring reactions to nearly everything around him are hilarious. Even if he doesn’t say something that’s necessarily meant to be funny, it’s hard not to chuckle because it’s coming from him. Adam Driver, known much more for his angrier, higher energy roles in both film and TV, also proves to be a natural at deadpan, monotone humor, even matching Murray in plenty of scenes. Their rambling, offbeat conversations are what drives most of this movie, taking up most of the screen time, and their presence is sorely missed in most instances when the movie’s not focused on them.
The Dead Don’t Die isn’t what one would expect when going into a zombie movie, but it’s still a good time in its own right. While it contains some stories that weren’t needed that would have also eliminated some heavy-handed political commentary, its main focus is the conversations between Bill Murray and Adam Driver, and that’s when it works the best. Despite being mostly Driver and Murray’s movie, it has a solid supporting cast, and with their combined efforts, it makes for plenty of hilarious deadpan jokes that in turn make this an overall enjoyable experience.
Recommendation: Watch It
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