Review of Broken Flowers (2005) by Derek D — 27 Oct 2009

In Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film BROKEN FLOWERS, Bill Murray stars as Don Johnston, a aging womanizer who in his mid-50s has yet to settle down. Just after his latest girlfriend leaves him, calling him an "over the hill Don Juan", he receives a letter from a woman claiming that they had a son together, who has now set off in search of his father. The letter has no signature, but Don's neighbour Winston (Jeffrey Wright), who fancies himself something of a sleuth, thinks that Don can track down the sender. After Winston has Don right down a list of four women who might be the mother, he sends Don off to visit them. As Don visits these women (played by Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy and Tilda Swinton), his reception gets progressively worse. The film's lacks a true conclusion, but nonetheless the ending seems satisfying.

I found BROKEN FLOWERS worthwhile enough on the first viewing, but I have no found it to have much staying power. The interactions between Don and the women he visits, on reflection, are not very believable. Bill Murray had been playing increasingly stoic roles over the preceding decades, from RUSHMORE through THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS and THE LIFE AQUATIC, but here he seems to have fallen almost into self-parody. Jarmusch has certainly done better elsewhere.