Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a little look at Jim Jarmusch's newest flick starring Bill Murray called BROKEN FLOWERS.
I've missed Jarmusch's last few flicks... not really on purpose, but I must admit there's a hesitance on my part when it comes to his work. I really liked MYSTERY TRAIN, but DEAD MAN felt so slow and weird for weirdness' sake. I haven't seen DEAD MAN since it came out on video back in the day, so maybe a re-watch is in order. I've also heard nothing but great things about GHOST DOG and COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, so I'll soon be picking them up at the video store.
So, the screening of BROKEN FLOWERS was in the early morning... I am not a morning person and thus got only a few hours of sleep before the screening. I was hoping the film wasn't so slow that I'd be battling against what I refer to as the Kennedy Head Jerk... you know, when you see people trying not fall asleep during moves... the chin goes slowly down and then WHAP, their head jerks back up as they catch themselves falling asleep.
Anyway, I have to say that there was no point where the movie bored me, thank God, so there was no Kennedy Head Jerking on my part that morning.
The film is about an older man by the name of Don Johnston ("Not Johnson. Johnston... with a 'T'."), played by Bill Murray, who gets a mysterious letter in the mail from an old flame who tells him that he has a son, now nearly adult and that the son might have found out about him and is on the road, possibly to find his father. The letter is typed on a pink sheet of paper and sent unsigned, the post-mark too light to make out.
Murray's best friend is his next door neighbor, Winston (Jeffrey Wright), a mystery buff who latches on to this real life mystery and sends Murray out on a quest to find who wrote this letter. The list is narrowed down to 4 girls who he was dating at that time and Murray's journey takes him into the very different lives of each, looking for clues as to who mothered his son.
Some of the critics after the screening were going off on how the movie didn't make sense. "Why didn't he just call these women? Surely one of them would have admitted to sending the letter. In real life no one would go on such a trip!" What they failed to see is what's so clearly underlined in the story. This isn't about the mystery, this is about the characters. This is Don Johnston's story, about his journey. The journey is what's important, not the solving of the mystery.
I said above the film isn't boring and that's true, but it is very, very lethargic. Very Jarmusch, I guess you could say. If you thought LOST IN TRANSLATION was a slow movie then you're gonna think BROKEN FLOWERS is molasses. Some might call it "deliberately paced," but I think that's a bit off for this flick. There were some shots that are held way too long. It's part of the charm of the movie, but also something I wish was edited a tad more tightly. It's a movie that feels like it's 2 1/2 hours and the runtime is under 2 hours.
However, that's Jarmusch's style and I can live with it. By filling the film with interesting characters the slow pace of the film (mostly before Murray leaves on his journey) doesn't become tedious.
Let's talk about some of the characters. Murray's next door neighbor is Winston, played by one of the best actors working today, Mr. Jeffrey Wright. This man can play anything. If you need a lizard in your movie, he can play it. If you need a white dude, he can play it. He's great in BROKEN FLOWERS and him with Murray is gold, particularly in the scene where his little daughter finds him and Murray smoking a joint, angry at him because Wright promised his wife that he'd give up cigarettes. "But baby, this isn't tobacco, this is fine chiba." Classic scene, especially when Murray jumps into the conversation.
Sharon Stone plays the first of his four ex-flames and damn near erases her terrible CATWOMAN performance out of all memory with this small role. She's great in the movie. Instantly likable and warm, someone you immediately care about, strangely enough. I wasn't expecting to like Stone in the film and she came away as one of my favorite characters...
Of course her visit was my favorite of the film, so that might have helped in my liking her character. Murray shows up to her door and her daughter answers... The daughter, played by Alexis Dziena, is friendly... maybe too friendly towards Murray. We come to find out her name is Lo, short for Lolita. When Murray hears this his eyebrows raise. She fits the bill. She's wearing a skimpy, short bathrobe when she pulls him into the house. She wears big, heart-shaped earrings...
She is also responsible for one of the best nude scenes in recent film memory. The scene is surprising, erotic, awkward and funny all at once thanks to the double team of Murray reacting to this nudity and Dziena's beautiful body. Relax, guys... she's in her 20s, so I'm only a little bit of a perv. The comedy is really in the naturalism of the moment, how it's no big deal to Dziena.
So, naturally, when her mother arrives there's a bit of uncomfortableness for Murray, but he quickly slips back in with Stone, finding out about her life, searching for hints on whether or not she is the letter writer. The house is warm and comfortable if a little on the poor side.
This is contrasted perfectly at the next ex's very nice house where the underlying tone of the whole visit is "Uncomfortable." This particular ex is played by Frances Conroy, from SIX FEET UNDER. Her eyes are always shifting, her demeanor always stiff and awkward. Her husband (Chris McDonald) tries to make things more comfortable, but his constant smile is that of a used car salesman. There's a hilariously awkward dinner scene and a few more hints. Could this be the letter writer?
We go through a couple more visits of varying levels of awkwardness and see many more possible hints... or could they be red herrings?
We never find out and I suppose that's for the best. The journey is what is important, after all, not the mystery itself.
I think that's about it. The flick is full of great character work by all involved, including Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton, Julie Delpy, a very pretty Pell James, Mark Webber (who has a great scene with Murray at the end of the movie) and Chloe Sevigny, all who I didn't talk about specifically only because I didn't want to go point by point through the whole movie.
I hope you folks enjoy the flick! I'm still behind on a ton of interviews, so I'm going to catch up on those right now. Keep your eyes peeled for 'em! 'Til then this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
