Broken Flowers
Starring: Bill Murray, Julie Delpy, Heather Simms, Brea Frazier ; Jarry Hall, Korka Fall, Saul Holland, Mark Webber, Zakira Holland, Niles Lee Wilson, Jeffrey Wright , Meredith Patterson, Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton
Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

Broken Flowers Reviewed by Paul Heath

You could brand Jim Jarmusch's latest effort, BROKEN FLOWERS, boring, self indulgent, annoying, uninspiring, unfunny and pointless. You could. You'd be missing the point though, as this movie is possibly the best films that I've viewed on DVD this year, and in a week where I've watched the delights of films like THE CONSTANT GARDENER and LORD OF WAR, that's pretty good going.

The story, like the entire movie, is simple. One morning, successful ex-computer businessman Don Johnston (Bill Murray) receives a mysterious letter in a pink envelope. The letter says that Johnston does have, in fact, a nineteen year old son by one of his ex-girlfriends. With the help of his next door neighbour, and friend, Winston, Johnston tracks down four of the girls that he was seeing twenty years previous and visits each of them, hoping to discover who is the mother of his long lost son, and hopefully meet and introduce himself to the kin he never knew he had.

I said at the top of the review that some people may find BROKEN FLOWERS a little slow on the pace side. Indeed this is true, but it also part of its charm. There are a number of scenes where Bill Murray and his fellow cast members are sat in silence, staring blankly at each other, or at the walls around them. The slow pace actually aids us as we're watching the movie as there's literally a zillion things going on in front of use that we're needing to take in to follow the superb story. There's hints everywhere and the viewer is left to decide for him/herself as to what hey mean. The long pauses also give a sense of uncomfortably, particularly for the Murray character who is a little intimidated by what may be revealed around the corner (could this one be the mother of his son). Also, this goes the same for each of the women in the flick. What would you do if an old flame of twenty so years ago turned up on your doorstep tomorrow? Sure you'd feel this way.

I'm finding it hard to put my finger on why this movie is as engaging, and so damn entertaining as it is, but I think it all boils down to the performance of our leading man, the ever impressive, though more so here than in any of his previous work, Bill Murray. He oozes charm all the way, and throughout the movie you are wanting the guy to find what he is looking for and succeed. Murray seems to deliver a humbling, touching performance that I hadn't seen from him before, and he draws out such emotion from his character and throws it at the screen as every minute of the movie unfolds. The don't-give-a-shit attitude seems to subside as the movie moves on and you warm to Johnston all the more as it does so. He owns this movie. It's his, and I think if you did plonk any other actor in the role, then it wouldn't have work half as well as it has.

Murray's performance is also held up by the wonderful supporting cast, notably the four women, played by Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy and Tilda Swinton. All deliver totally different, but equally brilliant performances as the 'exes'. Also worth a mention is Julie Delpy, who plays Sherry, the girl who dumps Johnston at the start of the move, as well as Chloë Sevigny, who must have the hottest pair of legs in Hollywood and the lovely and oh-my-gosh-she's naked Alexis Dziena. One of the most surprising and totally unexpected moments in cinema history.

BROKEN FLOWERS is one of Jim Jarmusch's most commercial movies to date, and I'm sure that he's going to win a few nonbelievers over who'll go check on his previous material. Here's a hint, go see DEAD MAN - a great flick starring Johnny Depp. Anyway, here the man explores what it's like to have something missing from your life, in this case a child, that may indeed exist. It's also about lost opportunities, living in the present and try to forget the past, which is summed up in he clever shot(s) dotted around the film of the wing mirror on Murray's car - the mirror showing what's come and gone, and Murray stuck in the car in the present. Genius. You'll see what I mean because his movie is filled with these sort of wonderful clues and subtexts and you'll have to really concentrate to see them all.

Like the movie, I'm not going to fill this review with unimportant, and indeed unneeded words, but simply say that BROKEN FLOWERS is a delight, and one of the best experiences that I've had at the movies in a long while. This is a never better Bill Murray. It's funny, sometimes touching, humbling, and like all good movies, gives you something to think about afterwards.

On to the extras. First up is the featurette titled 'BROKEN FLOWERS - START TO FINISH', which is a very original look at a clapperboard shutting in every scene of the movie. Also scattered in between are a few amusing outtakes featuring Bill Murray and the rest of the cast. I've never seen anything like this on a DVD release before. Another example of the genius and originality of Jarmusch and co.

We also have a behind-the-scenes feature named 'FARMHOUSE', which gives us a look into the flick and also we get to see Jarmusch in action on the set. The helmer also provides a brief audio track where he mentions where he wanted to go with the movie, and what he was trying to achieve. It's a good feature, and very interesting to see the man at work, but it's far, far too short.

We also get an extended scene feature the 'GIRLS ON THE BUS'. This is an improvised scene from the movie. I found it unfunny and a bit pointless really.

We get a soundtrack info page, which is basically an advert for the film's soundtrack, and shows who appears on it and a quote from Rolling Stone magazine. I will just say that I thought that the music in this movie was brilliant, particularly the track that plays over the opening menu page. I'll be popping out and buying this one.

Lastly, there's the theatrical trailer for the movie. Other trailers for Focus Features releases play before the main menu.

The soundtrack is available in English , and there is an option for subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

This is simply a movie that you must own. One of the releases where the extras aren't that great, but the movie is so brilliant that you're gonna want to go back and watch it again and again. My first 'A' on the site for a good while, and deservedly so.

GRADE: A-

Paul Heath