Review of Broken Flowers (2005) by Omar H — 20 Feb 2010
Broken Flowers is one of those movies that it takes a few moments for it to really sink in. Don is doing nothing with his life. We can safely assume he made enough money in the computer business that he now doesn't need to do anything at all for money.
The man has no passion, no hobbies, and no family. Shelly is a girl who might actually love him, which makes sense why she can't sit back and let him become an old and washed out Don Juan. When she says he has no kids his response doesn't become surprised, instead still stoic and says "why, is that what you want?" From this point on, it's important to remember that in the beginning there is a dedication.
This was most likely made for someone that Jarmusch knew and he was going through the same problems. So the rest of the film we see Don going through his adventure of finding his real son, and he is mostly without emotion other than embarrassment.
He's not sure how to ask each woman if they sent him the letter, instead he just tries to delicately look around for any clues. Which woman is the mother of his son? Or was it all a ploy by Shelly and Winston to do something with his life other than sit on the couch? If this is the case, it definitely worked.
Don seems to think it was all fake by the end, and even Winston says that he feels like the punch in the face was his fault, but it was all worth it. Even though Don might not truly believe, he is constantly on the watch out for someone who might be his son, which will force him to live more than what he was doing before.
To me, this is an important film about getting older and not giving up on life. There are a couple of scenarios about Don we can assume, he was a wild man in the past and now he has mellowed out because he doesn't think he can be who he used to be (seeing as they talk about him being a ladies man), or he has always been this way and it's time for a lifestyle change.
Either way, there is no excuse for a single human being to act like Don in our lives.
This review of Broken Flowers (2005) was written by Omar H on 20 Feb 2010.
Broken Flowers has generally received positive reviews.
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