Night on Earth (1992)

Overrated and overhyped

Amateur movie with Big budget

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

During one night, taxi drivers in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki interact with their passengers while driving them to their destination. "Night on Earth" is a collection of five short stories with different genres, from comedy to drama, taking place in taxis along the same night. The storyline is absolutely original and supported by great international cast. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Uma Noite Sobre a Terra" ("One Night on Earth")

If you go in expecting a coherent story line or some connecting thread among the five vignettes presented, you'll probably be disappointed. What I got out of the picture was the sense that throughout the world, people of different backgrounds and nationalities are all subject to similar kinds of human frailties and foibles, no matter if one lives in Los Angeles, Paris or Helsinki. The other two cities rounding out this peek around-the-world at a particular point in time are Rome and New York City. Some of the situations are rather bizarre, but to my mind, the most hilarious character in the picture was portrayed by Roberto Benigni as the cab driver in Rome. In a moment of reflection, he decides he must tell his confession to a priest who becomes his fare, and proceeds to drive the man into an unintended heart attack when he loses control of his medication. Perhaps the most poignant story is the last one in which a cabbie takes on three inebriated passengers and winds up relating a personal story that adds an unexpected perspective to their own unfortunate circumstances. All five of the unrelated tales have a way of making one think about how it would feel to walk in someone else's shoes, and perhaps, just how fortunate one is compared to the problems of the next person.

The nights in the big cities have their very own mysterious and incomparable aura. Only the cab drivers who are circling the blocks after midnight and pick up ever changing passengers really have a sense of such a feeling, that strange kind of reality that engulfs them when everyone else is sleeping. You get a glimpse of the dark side of the aura if you follow De Niro's Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver", and for the rest feel free to join independent film-maker Jim Jarmusch on five rides through L.A., New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki and see what the night has to offer.Writer/director Jarmusch celebrates the synchrony of events happening in various cabs all over the globe, where drama, fun and tragedy all take place at the same time while the earth takes another turn around its axis. All shot on location of the actual cities this episodic masterpiece was photographed excellently, there are some wonderful performances, lots of poignant moments and hilarious laugh-out-loud comedy. Armin Müller-Stahl for example as German ex-clown "Helmet" going to "Brookland" clashing with NY culture is side-splittingly funny right from his greeting "Hello! How are YOU?" Then of course there is Roberto Benigni's wild confessional ride through Rome with a padre on the back seat, which has become an instant classic. Incredibly touching is also the final chapter in Helsinki with some drunkards exchanging tragic stories only to arrive at sunrise to catch some sleep. Or the one with the black cabbie, who learns to respect a blind woman and makes one wonder: Who's really the blind one? OK, OK, with all those overwhelmingly brilliant snapshots there's one obvious downside - which is the first tale, starring Wyona Rider as a small, but tough cookie: "I want to become a mechanic!" But after all taxi driving wasn't for her and she did eventually become an actress, didn't she?

Jim Jarmusch directs five distinct taxi rides from different cities around the world. The first is set in Los Angeles with Wynona Ryder as the driver and Gena Rowland's as a Hollywood exec looking for an actress for role in a film. She feels that Ryder would be perfect for it so Ryder must make that decision.The second ride is in New York City with a German immigrant who picks up Yo Yo and his sister in law, Rosie Perez and they show him the highlights of Brooklyn.Number three is in Paris with a blind French passenger being driven by an African driver. They try to communicate but there is a big language and cultural barrier.Number four is in Rome with the cabbie picking up a priest and confessing all kinds of crazy sexual sins. This is the funniest segment of the bunch.The fifth and final one in set in Helsinki. Three drunken passengers who have been laid off from their jobs take a ride and describe their problems to the driver.Night on Earth is a charming vignette with music by Tom Waits.