Broken Flowers- what a disappointment

[scottish-movie-freak]

Am I the only one severly let down by this movie? It had the potential to be something truly great but turned out to be below average. I had read so many reviews, saying it was one of the best of 2005- sorry but I just didn't see it.

The biggest problem I had with this movie was the female cast. I don't understand what Jarmusch was thinking, casting such talented actresses and giving them virtually nothing to work with. If you're going to hire talented actors, use them! We didn't get a chance to truly know any of the female characters, all we got was "the ex-hippy" (Frances Conroy, "the trailer trash slut" (Sharon Stone), "the biker chick" (Swinton) etc. Tilda was probably the worst served, I doubt she was even in the film for 2 whole minutes. Tilda Swinton is one of my all time favourite actresses, she can do so much with so little but even she struggled here and there is something seriously wrong with a film where Tilda Swinton gives a nothing performance.

I also had a problem with Bill Murray. Don't get me wrong, I love him as much as the next man (Lost In Translation is one of my all time favourites) but he's getting a bit typecast, don't you agree? For the past couple of years, he's been playing the same role in every movie. Lost In Tran, The Life Aquatic, Rushmore, he always plays the cool (slightly quirky) older guy. What he does, he does well but these types of roles are hardly a stretch for him. I'd love for someone to hand him a juicy part to get his teeth into. Broken Flowers is not it.

Before seeing BF, I remember reading somewhere that it only took Jarmusch two weeks to write the screenplay and it was reflected in the quality of writing. Granted, I haven't seen many of his films (only two spring to mind- Coffee & Cigarettes, which I wasn't too fond of, and Dead Man, which I loved) so I'm not in a position to compare/contrast with his earlier work but if this is it then I'll never watch a Jim Jarmusch film again. He gave us no insight into why the characters do what they do. Why exactly did Don go looking for his son- because he's old? Because his biological clock is ticking? Those are poor motives, in my opinion but that's what I got out of it. Broken Flowers did have an excellent premise, I'll admit that and there could have been a great film made out of it but there would need to be at least another hour added on to it. I'm not one to judge a film on its running time but then at least I'd know it would be slightly more satisfactory.

Also, I'm gay so female nudity doesn't really do much for me but why exactly was Sharon Stones daughter naked? What purpose did that serve? Was it meant to make the audience laugh, give us an immature giggle? Well, it didn't work with my audience. No one laughed. In fact, I heard quite a lot of people commenting on her nakedness, saying how it was quite inappropriate and just not needed.

Needless to say, I will not be buying Broken Flowers on dvd. I think a repeat viewing would just make me dislike it even more. Does anyone else agree with me on the points I made? Or am I just crazy?

End of rant.

[ilovemovies]

I don't think it's one of the best of the year, but I thought it was a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable movie. Bill Murray is great.

There are perhaps a few too many scenes of Bill Murray just driving around and sitting/lying around. And the dream sequences seemed really pointless to me. But it was a funny, absorbing movie with a really great cast. Besides Murray, Jeffrey Wright is great and so are all of the actresses who play the women that Murray visits.

So I don't really agree with this rant. I thought it was a good movie.

[Lynn7]

I just saw this one tonight and my first reaction to the ending was "Is that it?!!!" However, I rewound it a bit and thought it over and I think I do feel good about the way it ended. Here's why:



Spoilers







First of all, the murray character is a waste- he sits on the couch as his latest girlfriend is leaving and seems emotionless. He is accused of having a lot of flings and we can see that this has been his pattern for at least 20 years.

The visits to the women allow the filmaker to make some really great observatios about humanity. From the first (shocking) visit to Stone's character- it was so funny to know what the girl did with Murray's character and then seeing the mother reprimanding the daughter on some other things in a way that showed how clueless she was. And the way they talked about her husband who died- it was funny.

The scene at the prefab house was painful to watch but it is a real-life awkward scene.

Teh Lange character was pretty funny- all the stuff that was said in that scene-lawyer turned "communticator" was too funny! and the scene where the guy who was talking to the rabbit! LOL!

And finally the scene with Tilda S- it must have been her cause who has a typewriter anymore? Also, the kid in the car at the end (Murry's real life son) looked like he would be a son of hers (dressed like the men on the farm).Yet the letter sounded more civilized than what we would expect from her and yet we didn't really hear her speak to much and we did learn that it was she who left him. And why the dramatic reception if it wasn't her?

The scene at the cemetary gives you thoughts about the finality of life etc- moving, IMO.

The final scene where he thinks his kid was the philisophical kid but then when he is standing stupidly in the middle of the road the other kid goes by and really LOOKS at him.and that could have been his one chance to connect with his kid and yet the kid sees him looking like a waste- in the middle of the road with a bandage on his head looking pretty dumb. anyway, I rewond this scene and watched it slow mo and it seems like the kid was looking at him in a way no ordinary person would do and the music on the radio is identified via subtitles as Ethiopian Jazz- the smae music Murray's character listens to-what are the chances of that???

And yet, he never really wanted to find his son anyway, he was pushed into it so all is not really lost except he got the chance to go back and review his life and consider how to move forward. H ekind of even says this to the philisophical kid. And his girlfriend Delpy wanted him back, I think, so it didn't seem really too bleak for him when all is said and done.

I agree that Murray should try to broaden his acting a bit although I really do like him a lot.

[Lazy Boy]

Originally posted by ilovemovies
And the dream sequences seemed really pointless to me.

They were probably meant to show how Don encodes little things during his visits and keeps them as a reminder of his past. Note the driving scenes, how many shots are of a rearview mirror, always looking back. By the end, Don is at the crossroads, and even he admits that between the past and the future, all there can be is the present.

[AceD]

SPOILERS

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*****

Well, the final scene was a bit much -- we've seen that before in other films, and I think CASTAWAY was the best example of a film that ends at a crossroads. Overall, though, I LOVED the movie. It's my 5th or 6th favorite movie of the year. I agree with Scottish that I would have liked to have seen more of the women, but I thought it was brilliant to not spell everything out about their relationship and allow us to guess what might have happened between them. I love Swinton too...and would have liked to have seen more. To me, the film played a bit like COLATTERAL, in the sense that it was a movie comprised of a few short films, almost. Wonderful acting all around. The nudity was silly (the earlier exchange about her name was funny and enough). I also was thrilled to see Mark Webber make an appearence. Great stuff. So I have to disagree with the rant, although I can respect that position on the movie. I think it is definatly a love it or hate it type film.

[jaw2929]

Oddly enough, I'm opposite the original topic creators on this... As I thought "Lost in Translation" was fucking abysmal, and Broken Flowers should've received the accolades the former did, as it was leaps and bounds better overall....

Having said that, I thought BF was the best movie of 2005 (yes, better than even King Kong) and I'll definately be buying this once it's out on DVD!