Review: Broken Flowers

Salivating Dog Public Service Announcement

This point is so vital, I had to say it two times.

Well, I take it back. I can see one scenario where you might want to see it. If there's a guy or girl you've been kinda-sorta seeing, and haven't quite worked up the nerve to put the moves on him/her, you might want to take this person to see Broken Flowers. Because the movie's so unbelievably boring, he or she will probably put the moves on you, just for something to do.

If you saw Lost in Translation, Rushmore, or that Aquatic movie, you've probablynoticed that Bill Murray has been working on this "comedic minimalism" thing. Even in the 70's, he was never the madcap, coked-up kinda guy. He probably was coked-up, but he didn't make it part of his act like, say, Robin Williams did.

Well, lately, he'd been taking it down about seven more notches. The knobs were all at 2, but it was still funny. Just a very understated kind of funny. I think the reason he pulled it off was because it looked like he was right on the verge of breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably. But somehow he did just that was funny to keep himself from doing it. And it was the tension between the unspeakable sadness and the bit of wackiness that made it work.

In this movie, we have the sad part, but we don't have the wack part. Like none. It's just Bill Murray looking sad. Endless, unchanging shots of Bill Murray looking sad.

And the worst part is the ending. I'm going to spoil it for everyone here, in the hopes that by doing so, nobody has any interest in seeing it.

When I say "ending", I mean that the movie doesn't have an ending. It just stops. Like that Jarmusch asshole just ran out of film and said, "I'll just, I dunno, stop there, and people will call it art." Roughly speaking, the story is that Bill Murray's girlfriend leaves him. Later that day, he reads a letter from an old flame, saying he has a 19 year old son. And then he figures out who the prime suspects are, and, at the prodding of his Ethiopian next-door neighbor, he goes on a big trip around the country to find out which one it might be. It takes about an hour for us to get to the part where he actually leaves, although it feels like seven.

About an hour after that -- or was it six hours? -- it occurred to me, "Holy shit, you know what's going to happen? He's not going to find out!" And I was right! He doesn't find out at all! What's worse, he decides it may all just be a joke, that there may not be any 19 year old son. It could just be a trick or something.

So, therefore, and in conclusion, don't go see Broken Flowers. And while you're at it, don't go see Broken Flowers!

I am, however, giving it two Charlie Heads, because the soundtrack was really good. Not good enough to carry the movie, and doesn't make it worth seeing, but it was very good.