Broken Flowers Movie Review

Look at the roster of great directors. He's given some of his best, more odder performances for Wes Anderson. He did a terrific job for Sofia Coppola in Lost in Translation. (Love the movie or hate it, you can't deny that Murray was fantastic in it). And he was uproarious in Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes (where he plays himself opposite the Wu Tang Clan's GZA and RZA, who constantly refer to him as Billmuwway). Sure, there's a Garfield and a Charlie's Angels in there, but I feel by doing those, he's allowing himself the comfort to take the risks and be in the films he cares about. And I feel he's been seriously robbed of Academy Award nominations for both Rushmore and his turn as Polonius in the 2000 modernized version of Hamlet.

In Broken Flowers, he teams up again with Jarmusch, but this time for a whole movie. And they are a great combination. If you're not familiar with Jarmusch and his work, I have to warn you, he's not for everybody. He's very minimalist (especially in his earlier films) and extremely deadpan. I happen to love his films (although I haven't seen all of them yet) and I'm always looking forward to his next one. This was no exception, and again, I walked away loving the film.

The story follows Don Johnston (Murray) who sometimes has to correct people that he is not Don Johnson, star of the popular 80s television program Miami Vice. Don is a lothario, or at least a reformed lothario. He lives in a nice little house, living off his money from working in computers, with his girlfriend Sherry. As the movie opens, Sherry is leaving him. As she leaves, he notices a letter in the mail in a pink envelope, written on pink stationary and typed with red ink. Don goes to his next door neighbor Winston's house to help him with computer stuff, when he finally remembers the letter and opens it.

The letter is written by an ex from his past. It informs Don that he fathered a son. there is no name or return address, so Don has no clue if it is a fake, a burned former flame getting revenge on him, or if it is indeed true. Winston, played by Jeffrey Wright (who I'll talk more about later), is a budding mystery novelist, and sees this as a challenge. He will help his friend solve the mystery of this letter. All Don has to do is provide a list of possible women.

Winston makes good on his word, and provides an entire itinerary for Don to follow. He tells him to visit all these women, gather clues based on what he sees, without actually coming out and asking, and to bring pink flowers. With that, Don's off across the country, not knowing what to expect, or how these women will react to him. He leaves rather reluctantly. But he goes anyway, in an effort to find out the truth. That's your story. I'm not going to spoil anything else about the movie, that's up to you to discover.

I will talk about the performances. Bill Murray is great, as you probably could have concluded from the opening. He's doing the mopey thing for a bit, and that great aloof bit he does so well. But he's also a perfect marriage for the deadpan style of Jarmusch. There's a scene where he eats dinner with one of his former loves and her husband, and Murray barely says a word. It's awkward and hilarious all at the same time. (He's got great delivery with almost every line, the stand out for me being "I'm a stalker in a Taurus.") He holds the film together and paints a portrait of a man who doesn't know what he's done with his life, who doesn't know where it's going, and only lives for the present, which is pretty much what he tells a character later in the film, only not about himself. It's a funny, nuanced, delicate performance, and he's brilliant.

Jeffrey Wright deserves an award for his performance as well. He's very funny, but believably funny. Not just some stooge for random jokes, his comedy comes out of his character. Everything he does is completely natural to who Winston is. He's charming and fun, and my only regret is that he's not in the film enough. Maybe Jarmusch will grant us a film entirely about Winston at some time, but for now, just go and savor how pitch perfect he is.

The actresses playing the former girlfriends are all at the top of their game. Even Sharon Stone, if you can believe it. I winced when I saw her name in the credits, but i liked her character, and I liked her, so I take back anything bad I've said about her. Jessica Lange is also really good, as is Tilda Swinton (whom I didn't even recognize). They're all great, and their reactions to this sudden blast from the past are perfect and human.

The photography is beautiful. This time the camera actually moves a lot. If you've seen Jarmusch's earlier films, you know he likes to have action play out in front of a stationary camera, but this time, it moves along. And it captures certain moods. I can't let go of how well shot one hotel room in God knows where America on a rainy morning is. Captures mood, setting, and emotion beautifully. It was shot by Frederick Elmes, who has shot a lot of David Lynch films, and did an outstanding job with Hulk. There's a lot of shots from Don's point of view from the driver's seat of his moving car, as goes from location to location. It's showing Don's present stasis, as he contemplates what he's doing next and what he's done, but it shows exactly where he is.

I have to talk about the music choices as well, because they are perfect. I want Jim Jarmusch to program the music of my life. There better be a soundtrack, even if I wind up being the only person who buys it.

Jarmusch directs it perfectly. As someone who was introduced to him later in life (courtesy of guy in college named Justin, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Jarmusch. Thanks Justin, I owe you) I took to him like a rat in a glue trap. That was a great simile. But he's got that great style and delivery, and he knows what he's doing. He writes great human characters, and directs the actors to perfection. Great job.

I loved this movie. So much so, that it's quickly moving up my top ten of the year. Even as I write it. I can't wait to see it again, especially so I can hear the letter as Don reads it to Winston. (A woman showed up late, and was being very loud during this scene, which was very distracting, not to mention aggravating. If it wasn't free, I would have asked for my money back. A great scene ruined by another idiot movie goer. Show up on time, people!!!!) Regardless, I loved it. I can't praise it enough. It might not be everyone's cup of tea (or in the case of Jarmusch, coffee) but if you like human characters, great acting, and some seriously funny moments, check this one out.