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Movies / On DVD / Broken Flowers
Broken Flowers

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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: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:21-10-2005

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

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Funny, disciplined, and acted with great skill and warmth.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/05/08
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

After a career of deadpanning, Murray's impassive performance is still fresh, funny, sympathetic and restrained.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
09/28/06
Liese Spencer
Liese Spencer
Sight and Sound

Subtle, warm direction from Jim Jarmusch and another Oscar-worthy performance from Bill Murray -- will the Academy just give him a statue, already?

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Jo Berry
Jo Berry
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Murray is terrific as Don %u2013 there's a genuine sadness to his character and he makes you feel the pain of the emptiness he doesn't know how to express.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/29/05
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Moving, mirthful and minimalist, Broken Flowers is a bittersweet treat from indie great Jim Jarmusch.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/15/05
Matthew Leyland
Matthew Leyland
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Jarmusch catches life with nuance and charm ... it's like a delicate variation on About Schmidt.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/07/05
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Insightful, entertaining, and a worthy addition to the filmography of one of America's more interesting modern directors.

Full Review Source: Film and Felt | comment Comment
09/26/09
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

Throbs with compressed emotion

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
09/05/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

The ending is sublime, a set piece that almost makes up for the overwhelming slightness of it all.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
08/16/07
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out New York

Each encounter is a finely observed and beautifully performed vignette in its own right, but together they sketch out a past from which our grey Lothario has been irrevocably set adrift.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
07/02/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

Womanizer cads may be front and center in movies. But surprisingly sometimes, so are the impressive accompanying ensemble righteous females who cut them nicely down to size, and the quirky and twisted Broken Flowers is no exception.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
05/25/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

The auteur's unbeatable weirdness here mutates into preciosity.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Erica Abeel
Erica Abeel
Film Journal International

This is a film about insufficiency on so many levels, a film not of hipster indifference, but of a certain effete inability to react.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
08/07/06
Leo Goldsmith
Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

In Murray [Jarmusch] has found his quintessential actor.

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/04/06
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

It's about questions, not easy answers, and its refusal to provide them might frustrate some viewers unaccustomed to Jarmusch's elliptical style.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/04/06
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

A marvelous movie, with Bill Murray scoring again in the realm of drama.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment 2 Comments
02/03/06
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Jim Jarmusch vuelve a sorprender con una película minimalista donde los pequeños detalles, varios personajes episódicos, y un casi imperturbable Bill Murray, nos conducen hacia una travesía extraña y sugestiva.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment 1 Comment
01/28/06
Enrique Buchichio
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
01/17/06
Sydney Morning Herald
 
 
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