Review of Broken Flowers (2005) by Paul N — 04 Dec 2013

Yes, Bill Murray is a master of understatement. But unless you're a fan of somewhat obscure French film, this is going to be an excruciatingly slow movie for you.

Don is an aging Don Juan (a pun driven home repeatedly through old movie clips and a helpful neighbor in case you miss the play on names). Led to suspect he has a teen son he never knew about that might be looking for him, Don reluctantly sets out on a journey to visit the women he remembers being with roughly 17 years ago. While it's never clear what made the taciturn Don so appealing to such a broad variety of women, it's clear that the passage of time has not dulled their obsession with him, for better or worse.

We meet four different women with varying responses to Don's unexpected turnup in their lives. While it's interesting to watch the characters and interactions play out, there isn't much to carry the movie. No real standout performances here (didn't even recognize Sharon Stone), and the gratuitous nudity is just that.

The movie doesn't say much. Towards the end, Don tries to provide some wisdom to a young man he suspects might be his son. It isn't very profound, but the idea that the past is irretrievable and the future is forever elusive, leaving us precariously in the present is something the movie hinges around. It just took a looooong time to say it.

The film is dedicated to Jean Eustache, a French director from mid-last century. I'm not familiar with Eustache's work personally, but I'm assuming that this film utilizes some of his techniques.