Broken Flowers

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+) audience reviews

Davide l Brilliant, head and shoulders above the crowd. Two faves working together, BM and JJ! My favourite type of comedy. Understated, addressed to a knowing rather than the fawning gawping gaping brigade that needs to be spoonfed a plot and any humour more than hinted at. Here's a more faithful portrayal of the human experience by taking concepts to their mere logical conclusion. Errant, not aberrant! Thanks to the whole crew and who helped make it possible! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/13/23 Full Review Ola G Don Johnston (Bill Murray), a former Don Juan who made a small fortune in the computer industry, wants to live in quiet retirement. He is content to lounge around watching old movies and listening to classical or easy listening music. His current girlfriend, Sherry, is ending their relationship and moving out of his house when a letter in a pink envelope arrives. Later Don reads the letter; it purports to be from an unnamed former girlfriend, informing him that he has a son who is nearly nineteen years old, and who may be looking for him. Initially, Don does not intend to do anything about it, but his busybody neighbor Winston, who is a mystery novel enthusiast, urges Don to investigate. Winston researches the current locations of the five women most likely to have written the letter and gives Don the information along with maps and flight reservations, and persuades him to visit them... Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus reads: "Bill Murray's subtle and understated style complements director Jim Jarmusch's minimalist storytelling in this quirky, but deadpan comedy." According to Ken Tucker, "Broken Flowers relies on Bill Murray's persona, but it also turns that persona back on him. Instead of maintaining the satirical distance that made it easy to laugh at heartland eccentrics in, say, Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, Jarmusch's film avoids caricature, and Murray's poker face melts. Don feels a bittersweet regret at becoming exactly the sort of granite-faced wise guy Bill Murray has made his rep at enshrining. Murray is at a point in his career when his self-effacement has achieved high comic art, and he collaborates with Jarmusch at a point in his career when he's trying to be something more than hipster-serene. Both succeed, by committing to the notion that a yearning to be reborn within a hopeless, brittle soul is worthy of drama—as well as a deeper, gentler humor." Peter Bradshaw called it "Jarmusch's most enjoyable, accessible work for some time, perhaps his most emotionally generous film - like Cronenberg, he has made a bold venture into the mainstream with a movie that creates a gentle cloud of happiness. It is, it must be said, a lot more forgiving about aging men than Alexander Payne's road-movies About Schmidt or Sideways, but it is still a very attractive piece of film-making, bolstered by terrific performances from an all-star cast, spearheaded by endlessly droll, seductively sensitive Bill Murray." Jim Jarmusch slowpaced and parched deadpan sort of filmmaking is not for everyone and to be honest not my cup of tea. Never was, never will be despite the fact that I have seen several Jim Jarmusch films. Having the normally comic genius Bill Murray walk around like a zombie with a deadpan look on his face for an hour and a half with a storyline that ultimately leads nowhere is just a waste of time to me. There´s no highs and no lows in "Broken Flowers" just a feeling of flatline. Simply put, "Broken Flowers" is as boring as watching paint dry to me. Trivia: The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/11/23 Full Review William M Over the past 15 years of so, the films of Jim Jarmusch have become increasingly hit or miss. This one was largely a miss, as was his later film, The Dead Don't Die (both of which starred Bill Murray.) On the other hand, Only Lovers Left Alive was brilliant. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/24/22 Full Review Audience Member Absolutely stunk. Clock watching for most of it - a slow death watching Bill Murray. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member One of Bill Murray's greatest performances! The casting is perfect and actors/actresses are all convincing but the film "is" Murray's. Director Jarmush, unpredictable as usual in the treatment of this (multi)sentimental but not romantic story, does an excellent job. Murray's character believes in Love ? Try to understand that...! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Another dry dry Jarmusch comedy. Bill Murray is ageing lothario Don Johnston, recipient one day of an anonymous pink letter, purportedly from an old flame claiming he is the father of their now 19 year-old son, and this young man is trying to locate him. Urged on by his neighbour (Jeffrey Wright), Don reluctantly starts a journey into his past and sets out to meet each of his ex-lovers. The problem with the film is that it's too self-conscious to be involving (every scene ends with a slow fade), and has the wrong actor playing Don. Bill Murray lacks the interior energy the character needs and doesn't exploit the emotional side of things with enough colour. Great soundtrack though. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Broken Flowers

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now