Movie Review: Broken Flowers

By Frank H. Woodward Aug 4, 2005, 7:07 GMT

In the new film from acclaimed writer/director Jim Jarmusch, which won the Grand Prix at this year\'s Cannes International Film Festival, Bill Murray stars as Don Johnston. The resolutely single Don has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry (Julie Delpy). Don yet again resigns himself to being alone and left to his own devices. Instead, he is compelled to reflect on his past when he receives by mail ...more

BROKEN FLOWERS is a return to form for director Jim Jarmusch... a form of independent cinema that he helped invent.  Here skewed characters are the driving force more than story.  The result is no less engaging.

The character of Don Johnston is clearly spelled out for us as we witness the end of his most current relationship.  As she packs to leave him, Don watches THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN on television.  The quiet suffering he exhibits is more about the self realization his alter ego is experiencing than losing another woman.

Don's own self realization comes in the wake of this break up... a pink letter typed in red ink.  An anonymous lover from Don's past writes that they share a 19 year old son and that son is coming in search of his father.  Since there were quite a few women in Don's past, the identity of the mother is a mystery.

Don's next door neighbor Winston, a wannabe mystery writer, sees instant merit in the conundrum.  A fulfilled family man, Winston worries about his neighbor's playboy shell.  Winston nudges Don to follow a trail of past loves.  By doing so, Don could unravel the mystery of his life.  But is Don chasing the life he chose not to have or one he always wanted?

Performances are always the highlight of a Jim Jarmusch film.  Story lines usually take a back seat (see Jarmusch's last film COFFEE & CIGARETTES if you don't believe me).  The plot of BROKEN FLOWERS does likewise.  Though there is a mystery to solve, it's the people Don encounters that tickles us.  One of those people is Don Johnston himself.

Bill Murray is still playing on the Keaton-esque weariness that he used so well in LOST IN TRANSLATION. It is no less effective here and, with an all to brief glimpse at the sorrow beneath, one could say his performance is even better this time round.

As for the litany of ex-girlfriends, all actresses (Julie Delpy, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton) have their moment in the sun, playing with a wide range of scarring left by their loving Don. 

Jeffrey Wright's performance as Winston should not to be left out.  He is more than the opposite of Don (with his burgeoning family and happy married life). He's almost Don's conscience, that gently nagging voice that gets you to do what you don't feel like doing.  The naive enthusiasm Wright exudes oversolving Don's mystery (right down to wanting to perform forensic tests on any typewriters Don recovers) is endearing. 

Cinematically, Jarmusch has never been one for any grandstanding.  In films like DOWN BY LAW and MYSTERY TRAIN, he's content to have the camera remain a tranquil observer.  With BROKEN FLOWERS, however, he breaks that tradition by cutting away to a fair share of recurring images.  These shots elegantly signify a Don Juan who has gone through many relationships and
never learned from them.  They are his repeated mistakes and hopes.  In some cases, like the flowers he brings to each of his former lovers, we watch them wither away (a progressively decaying basketball hoop comes to mind-- a sign of a son that could be?).

Music also plays a major role in the film. Especially the opening and closing song "There Is An End" (sung by Holly Golightly and The Greenhornes). The lyrics of this song point to the essence of Don's search.

Recently, thanks to films like SIDEWAYS and LOST IN TRANSLATION, alternative moviegoers have been seeing a renaissance of the indie scene.  It's fitting that one of independent cinema's forefathers throws BROKEN FLOWERS, one of his best works, into the multiplex ring.

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