Friday, December 7, 2012

Broken Flowers

This week I decided to watch Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers," a sort-of comedy about a man, Don Johnston, an aging Don Juan played to perfection by Bill Murray, tracking down five of his former flames to see which one produced him a son after receiving a mysterious, anonymous letter.



Don has no interest in finding these women, but his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright), urges him to do so. Winston is the anti-Don; wife, five kids, and three jobs, while Don lives alone after making it big in computers, despite not owning one.

Don hits the road and meets four former loves; Sharon Stone, whose daughter is named Lolita, but neither get the sexual connotation; a real estate agent played by Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange as an animal communicator, and Tilda Swinton as an angry biker. The fifth women is dead. I'm obviously not going to spoil which woman sent the letter, and it's interesting how that the answer is not really what the movie is about, but instead it is about mood and how this man is trying to reconnect in his lonely life.

I really enjoyed the movie and I was excited to see how each women would act. The performances are very good, yet reserved, which seems to be a part of Jarmusch's minimalist style. It's well directed and well shot, keeping me engaged the entire time. I highly recommend this movie, especially those who like Bill Murray in his new era of movies.


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