FilmsDown by LawLike this

Films like Down by Law.

Down by Law (1986) reads as Warm, slow-burn, gentle comedy / crime, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, intimate, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Mystery Train (1989) poster
1. Mystery Train1989

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Stranger Than Paradise (1984) poster
2. Stranger Than Paradise1984

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Vernon, Florida (1981) poster
3. Vernon, Florida1981

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994) poster
4. Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana1994

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Slacker (1990) poster
5. Slacker1990

Keeps the unmistakable directorial hand and the cold, bleak undertow; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Slacker (Linklater 1990) (1990) poster
6. Slacker (Linklater 1990)1990

Keeps the unmistakable directorial hand and the cold, bleak undertow; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Sentimental Policeman (1992) poster
7. The Sentimental Policeman1992

Keeps the unmistakable directorial hand and the cold, bleak undertow; trades toward a strange, dreamlike logic.

Pastorale (1975) poster
8. Pastorale1975

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a bone-dry seriousness.

Gallivant (1996) (1996) poster
9. Gallivant1996

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a deep human warmth.

Gates of Heaven (1978) poster
10. Gates of Heaven1978

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Sherman's March (1985) poster
11. Sherman's March1985

Keeps the unmistakable directorial hand and the cold, bleak undertow; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Long Live the Lady! (1987) poster
12. Long Live the Lady!1987

Keeps the unmistakable directorial hand and the intimate, personal stakes; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

These are Down by Law’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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