Review of Broken Flowers (2005) by Spangle — 29 Apr 2015

This one is slow and I can get why the audience is a little mixed on it, but the critics hit this one right on. Bill Murray is excellent in this one, as is Jeffrey Wright in a supporting role. A tale about a man going on a journey to discover if he has a son and if so, which woman is the mother of that child, this one is simply a slice of life type of film.

Nothing extraordinary happens and it is debatable as to if anything happened at all. However, I really do enjoy these type of films for the insight they provide for the characters presented. In Broken Flowers, you really get to really understand Murray's character and his problems and really, you feel bad for him since he is so alone, though he has always been surrounded by people.

In addition, Jim Jarmusch's direction is brilliant. He really manages to capture the beauty of life by emphasizing the beauty of the landscape that Murray transverses. Much like life, the beauty is in the details and this film really underscores that.

A subtle film that is so subtle it will not really touch a lot of viewers, this one really was moving. On top of that, the comedic moments were well done and actually really funny, but you had to pay attention to catch them.

As a whole, Broken Flowers is a very good film that works on multiple levels.