Broken Flowers Reviews

No Lost in Translation

Bill Murray turns in another understated performance this time for Jim Jarmusch in Broken Flowers. Murray stars as the unfortunately named Don Johnston, a sort of latter day Don Juan who’s comfortable life is turned slightly askew when he receives a letter informing him he has an eighteen year old son from a former conquest. As the letter is unsigned Don inflicts on himself an odyssey through the past to find the truth.

Broken Flowers has been described as Jarmusch’s most commercial film yet. Though this is true, viewers may find the director’s choice of long static shots and preference to leave major plot points unanswered slightly infuriating. Murry is superb as Don but one wonders how long this style of acting or non-acting can be stretched before audiences become indifferent.

As with previous Jarmusch features, it is the secondary characters that are most successful. Sharon Stone’s trailer trash mother accompanied by jailbait daughter Lolita is inspired and Jeffrey Wright’s detective and Ethiopian jazz obsessed neighbour is a standout.

While intermittently amusing, Broken Flowers does not compare favourably with previous Murry films such as Rushmore and Lost in Translation but will not tarnish his recent movie-making renaissance.

.. is that it then?

I think Jarmusch decided to give us a glimpse of some interesting characters, humorous lines and, just to tease us even further, fabulous acting and then leave us to make up a story all by ourselves.

To create a film which is blatantly devoid of a plot or storyline is just not fair. Sure you can think ... well maybe this meant that and that meant this ... but that's just as boring as someone asking you to figure out their dream for them.

I was so disappointed at the end of this movie I shouted at my TV, something I haven't done since I saw Pearl Harbour.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Like, really cool, dood - not!

You've got to hand it to Bill Murray: he's made a career, and presumably a lot of money, from being a half-trick wonder - a character actor with one single expression, that of a slightly cross, constipated Beagle.

There are, I imagine, loads of Americans who - bless 'em - confuse this with acting or talent or SOMETHING. Good for them, if they genuinely have the stomach for this blankness. It's NOT INTERESTING.

That there are lovely women actually willing to throw themselves at a Bill Murray character (as opposed to Bill Murray, movie star) is inconceivable to any man - well, this one, anyway.

Having just ripped this film to shreds, I have to say that it isn't as bad as, for example, 'Lost in Translation', perhaps because of the variety and quality of the actresses involved, though for all the promotion they're in fact rather underused; and at least it doesn't have that film's disagreeable let's-laugh-at-foreigners attitude.

But you really have to be a Bill Murray fan to tolerate this film; if you're not, or are indifferent, give it a miss.

Disappointing film

I was really excited about this film. I loved Bill Murray's performance in 'Lost in Translation' and I hoped for the same here. Be warned. This film is slow, unenvolving and boring. There is the occasional moment of beauty and brilliance but they disappear in a self-satisfied, lazy film.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Makes Lo-Fi comedies seem like Slap sticks!

This film is ace, and dead funny, however fraught with danger. It's one of those Lo-Fi comedies typical of Wes Anderson and I could imagine a lot of people thinking it's probably the worst film they've ever seen.......so be warned. I'm a fan of those type of films so loved this. Bill Murray is amazing as the aging playboy forced to get in touch with some old flames in search of his nineteen year old son - one of which is Sharon Stone who puts in a cracking performance, as does Alexis Dziena who plays her ultra flirtaious 16 year old daughter. It's packed full of awkward silences and uncomftable social situations that will have you either laughing out loud or climbing the walls due it's cringe-worthy-ness. Like I said.....this film is ace

There she blows

I was hoping for so much more from this, the trailer looked so good. For once Bill Murray is just too deadpan. I love this guys films they're always entertaining but I just couldn't get into this at all, just wanted to slap him. It's like a really boring Lost In Translation, similar pace but the story just misses something somewhere. I wouldn't watch this again. It's not all bad & i'm sure theres people out there that love this, just not me

Boring Flowers!

I know that this film is liked by the 'professional' critics but I didn't enjoy it at all. I found long shots of Don (Bill Murray) doing nothing much except looking morose tedious in the extreme. He was supposed to have been a Don Juan in his younger days but with his lack of charisma I found this very hard to believe. The women in the film were brilliant without exception and could all have benifited from more screen time.

If you enjoy watching paint dry then this is the film for you!

Knackered Plants

Lauded as it was with critical praise, I expected great things from this work. Sadly, the praise seems to have been misplaced, as this film was a tedious crawl through an uninspiring series of characters. Murray was unengaging and limp, hamstrung by an underwritten script. The supporting characters were undeveloped and served merely as a convenient way of shoehorning other famous faces into the plot. Count Daddy's final thought: Another over-hyped drama that leaves you feeling short-changed - just like the feeling you had after you'd seen Lost in Translation.

Well worth it

Until recently, it seemed that the definitive image that would spring to the minds of film fans whenever Bill Murray was mentioned, was destined to be that of the zany Ghostbuster, Dr Peter Venkman, dripping with Stay-Puft marshmallow at the end of Ivan Reitman’s, 80’s comedy sci-fi romp. Or perhaps Carl Spackler nuking gophers in Caddyshack. Would this have been a bad thing? Probably not, but for a while there, it was starting to look like these would be the only significant memories we would have of him.

Then along came Lost In Translation and with it, Murray’s long overdue return to the top of his game. His deadpan expressions and almost imperceptible looks of bewilderment were ideally suited to this role and, while it may sound like a contradiction in terms, this masterclass in understatement brought the character, and the film to life.

Broken Flowers continues in the same vein. Murray plays Don Johnston (‘With a ‘t’’), an ageing lothario who made his money in computers and now seems content to watch old black and white movies on his flatscreen TV. Until one day, he receives an anonymous letter from an ex-girlfriend warning him that the son he never knew he had, may be coming to track him down. Even this doesn’t really seem to pique Don’s interest too much. It eventually takes Winston, Don’s pot-smoking, amateur sleuth neighbour to rouse him from his carefree lifestyle and persuade him to take to the road to track down his ex girlfriends and find the source of the letter.

A road movie plot follows, with Don discovering that all of his exes (including the excellent Jessica Lange as Carmen and Laura, played by Sharon Stone) have moved on with their lives, with varying degrees of success. Finding himself confronted variously with new age veterinary practices, violence, general weirdness and, in perhaps the films finest moment, flirty advances from the appropriately named Lolita, Murray’s character takes it all in his stride with the same bemused, almost-but-not-quite-blank expression that had me laughing out loud several times.

Like Don, this film is easy going, laid back and entertaining. As with Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers’ charm comes from the main character finding himself in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable situation and how he deals with it. It never quite reaches the same heights though, perhaps because an American suburbia can’t really compare with modern-day Japan as an environment for a fish-out-of-water comedy. Nevertheless, this film left me satisfied, amused and not a little moved.

Draw a ven diagram. Put 'Scrooged' in the circle on the left, and 'Life Aquatic' in the circle on the right. 'Broken Flowers' is the circle in the middle. Good film, frustrating ending.