Broken Flowers

Bill Murray is a lifelong bachelor and ladies man who receives an anonymous letter from a former girlfriend that he has a 19-year-old son that is probably trying to find him.

The movie is directed by Jim Jarmusch, which I didn’t realize before watching it. I didn’t know much about this movie before I watched it. He’s an indie director who has made straight-forward feature films before, but I have never seen any of them. I have seen Night on Earth, which is five stories taking place in taxi cabs in five cities all over the world in one night. I have also seen Smoke and Blue In the Face, which were mostly just talking movies. They didn’t really have plots. Finally, I’ve seen Coffee and Cigarettes, which was tons of 5-15 minute clips with people talking over coffee and cigarettes. I really didn’t know what to expect after I saw Jarmusch’s name on the screen.

I really enjoyed the movie. There was minimal dialogue and many scenes of Bill Murray thinking or driving that could be slow in parts. It fit with the movie, but those ADD folks might have a hard time watching this movie. Bill Murray is great. He seems sad and you find it hard to believe he was this ladies man, until he comes in contact with his past gilfriends. Then he lights up a little bit, and most of them light up a bunch around him. He has great chemistry with everyone. He’s also hilarious in a deadpan kind of way. There’s a scene where he’s scared to eat the food in front of him, but finally decides to eat the carrots. Just the way he eats the carrots is hilarious, but it has to be seen to understand. Explaining it wouldn’t be funny.

I loved Jeffrey Wright who plays Winston, the Ethiopian wanna-be detective neighbor that sends him on the wild goose chase to find out who sent the letter. He’s awesome. He isn’t in the movie enough.

Finally, for those that enjoy those things, there is a full frontal nudity scene with a young girl. This leads to the best line in the movie by Bill Murray, “That was an excellent outfit you weren’t wearing earlier.”

Rating: A-

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