Review of Broken Flowers (2005) by Kevin G — 18 Sep 2010

I watched Broken Flowers the other day and I quite enjoyed it. I am a fan of the films about loneliness and existential angst. Broken Flowers deals with some of the same concepts (regret, longing, loneliness) as Lost in Translation, and the character he plays is terribly similar to his characters in this film.

Actually, a big part of the reason why I liked this movie is Bill Murray. I feel like I could watch Murray for hours, just sitting on the living room couch as he often does in this film. It?s hard to describe the persona Murray has evolved in his recent work for Sofia Coppola, and now Jarmusch.

He?s moody and melancholic, in contrast to the comedy that first made him famous in the mid 1990s. Here, Murray plays Don Johnston who finds himself alone in midlife. Early in the film Johnston receives an unsigned letter from an ex-lover with news that he may have a nineteen year old son.

Unwilling to admit that he is affected by this, Johnston allows his neighbor to encourage him on a search for the sender and possibly his son. Johnston comes up with five potential candidates and leaves.

This straight forward idea becomes an adventure where Johnston will meet his exes after more than 20 years without any contacts. Overall, I liked the movie. I didn?t enjoy this film as much as Lost in Translation but for me, even if it can be very slow-moving, this is one of the best kind of film.

Like Lost in Translation or Virgin Suicides, I find it very ?ambient.? Not a lot happens but the atmosphere created around the characters is very charming. The dialogues and situations are smart, funny and sincere.

I was quite disappointed with the ending though. It generates lots of questions that I wish were answered, when in Lost in Translation I did not really need or want to know what was next. Anyway, Broken Flowers is a slow-burner, but a pretty good movie.

I think if you enjoyed Lost in Translation or Bill Murray, you will enjoy this one.