Down By Law

Set in New Orleans, DOWN BY LAW begins as down-on-his-luck disc jockey Zack (Waits) tries to make some quick bucks by driving a stolen car across town. Unfortunately he gets pulled over by the police and is thrown into jail when a body is found in the car's trunk. In the meantime a pimp, Jack (Lurie), has been set up by an enemy and fellow procurer, and he too is carted off by police and thrown into Orleans Parish Prison, where he becomes Zack's cellmate. Three may be a crowd, but soon they are joined in their small cell by Roberto (Benigni), a confused and likable Italian who knows only a few phrases of English, which he keeps written in a pocket notebook. Eventua...