Review of Broken Flowers (2005) by Ben F — 09 May 2011

Bill Murray proves in this film why it's so endlessly entertaining to watch him. He has this extremely specific style that draws an audience in. This movie is no different. Along with it's very unique idea, and great execution, "Broken Flowers" is a highly enjoyable, warm-hearted film.

Murray plays a man who was kind of a womanizer in his day, and some woman sends him a letter telling him that he's had a son, and his son is looking for him. He has no idea who sent the letter, but he decides that he has to find out, and he goes back and checks all of his girlfriends to see which one sent the letter. The movie flows in such a quirky way, but that only adds on to it's originality. I really liked the idea, and it really intrigued me.

Murray was great. He, like he usually does, played a depressed, emotionless individual, who's completely depressed, and doesn't know what to do with himself. There are a lot of sequences that show Murray sitting alone in his house, and it adds on to the effect of his internal conflict, which isn't so apparent in this one. He's got a lot to his character that is actually more than it seems. He did a great job, and it wasn't a surprise.

The best thing that this movie had to offer was it's script. I thought the writing was great, and that's probably why the movie was so good. If the script for this film is bad, this movie could have easily been atrocious, but this was done well.

"Broken Flowers" is a tough movie to describe, but it does push all the right buttons, in all the right places. It's highly enjoyable, and satisfying. Besides it being kind of funny and original, there really is something close to the heart, especially towards the end of the film. It's kind of an unnoticed picture, but it's really good. Check it out.