Don's is a journey more bittersweet than riotously funny. But then, Murray is becoming a relentless minimalist.
Broken Flowers (2005)
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Reviews Counted:181
Fresh:157
Rotten:24
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Bill Murray's subtle and understated style complements director Jim Jarmusch's minimalist storytelling in this quirky, but deadpan comedy.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Aug 5, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $13,578,173
Synopsis: With BROKEN FLOWERS, staunchly independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch delivers one of his most pleasing, accessible pictures. Winner of the 2005 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the film tells... With BROKEN FLOWERS, staunchly independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch delivers one of his most pleasing, accessible pictures. Winner of the 2005 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of Don Johnston (Bill Murray), a man overflowing with wealth but void of emotion. On the day that his most recent girlfriend (Julie Delpy) has given up on him for good, he learns, through an anonymous letter, that he might be the father of a 19-year-old boy. Spurned into action by his wannabe private eye neighbor, Winston (Jeffrey Wright), Don sets off on a personal journey to visit the former partners who may or may not have mothered his child. They include the flighty Laura (Sharon Stone), whose daughter Lolita (Alexis Dziena) certainly lives up to her name; the uptight Dora (Frances Conroy), who has settled into a sterile life with her chipper husband, Ron (Christopher McDonald); the strangely distant Carmen (Jessica Lange), who makes a living as an "animal communicator;" and, finally, Penny (Tilda Swinton), a hard-edged biker who is the least happiest to see Don. Each confrontation leaves Don feeling more lost than the last, spinning him into an even greater state of apathetic confusion. In typical Jarmusch fashion, he wrote the script for BROKEN FLOWERS with his casting firmly in mind: only Murray could play this role. The result showcases Murray's brilliance as a less-is-more presence. Jarmusch also gives some of Hollywood's most talented female actresses roles they can relish. A hundred percent Jarmusch, BROKEN FLOWERS is a wry, tender, and bittersweet portrait of a man who is drifting aimlessly through life. [More]
Starring: Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Tilda Swinton
Starring: Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Tilda Swinton, Julie Delpy, Jessica Lange
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Screenwriter: Jim Jarmusch
Producer: Jon Kilik, Stacey E. Smith, Jim Jarmusch
Studio: Focus Features
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Reviews for Broken Flowers
Broken Flowers is a road movie, and like the best road movies, it doesn't take a straight path.
Broken Flowers is Jarmusch's most conventionally entertaining film, but it's still visually rigorous, swimming in pregnant silences, and un-filled-in in a way that's tantalizing.
Each encounter provides a master class in close observation and character work, Murray's minimalist expressions careening against the many and varied responses of Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy and Tilda Swinton.
A Jarmusch film through and through, with the stars shining against the same minimalist backdrop.
Audiences will laugh, mainly to prove they're awake, but the humor is pretty thin.
Jarmusch is a brilliant critic of the dead-ends of American culture and society and a first-rate painter of the absurdities of the Now and the traps of the Then.
Hold on to your hats. Jim Jarmusch, a director who always marches to his own strange drumbeat, has made an entertaining movie.
A minimalist miracle that transcends comedy and drama to wind up in a bigger and wiser place.
Jarmusch's narrative setups are often artificial and implausible, but his stories are usually charming anyway because the sense of character runs deeper than plot.
Broken Flowers overcomes its shortcomings through Murray's ability to make a nearly nihilistic character human.
Has little more ambition than to make Murray the funny valentine of one of Jarmusch's mood pieces....indeed, some of the best moments are wordless.
A wonderful collaboration between two unique talents, Broken Flowers perhaps isn’t for casual mainstream tastes, but it speaks eloquently to what’s broken in all of us.
The little moments, and the chance to participate in them, make Broken Flowers good
Since this is a Jim Jarmusch film, that road is a slow, lingering, lonely one with minimalist music and many unhappy endings.
For those who appreciate [Jarmusch's] style of film manipulation, and slow and steady storytelling, run to the theater this weekend. Enjoy.
Propping the film up ... is Murray, here given only a bareboned subset of his emotional range to work with and still able to create a being of identifiable depth.
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