Broken Flowers (2005)

Wife... leaving me, yet couch... so comfortable...

Genre: Drama Comedy (USA, France)

Starring: Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; Lost in Translation), Jeffrey Wright (The Manchurian Candidate; Basquiat)

Directed By: Jim Jarmusch (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai; Mystery Train)

Overview: When a man receives a nameless letter telling him he's a father, he goes and visits the women of his past from 20 years ago to see if perhaps they're the mother, or if it's all a hoax.

Acting: The stoic display of Murray in this role is a large slap of dry humour. It's a great role for him. As for his best friend, he's awesome. Lolita cracked me up, and the scores of women that he visits also do a great job in their roles. The direction was great.
Rating: 9

Cinematography: There was no doubt that they were trying to excel in cinematography. It was highly stylized and artistic, though one of my companions said it was pretentious. I didn't find it to be the case, but I see where he's coming from. I thought it had a streak of director Gus Van Sant in it, and for that reason it gets high marks. I don't give it a perfect 10 because although it was artsy, it could have been more entertaining.
Rating: 9

Script: The dialogue of this film is great. There's not too much talking, so the words expressed carry more weight. The dynamic between Murray and his best friend is very interesting and funny, and the women he meets along the way each have very distinct characters and are all very well written. I'd say it's the writing that puts this comedy over the top. Take heed, it's not one of those hilarious comedies, it's far more subtle, more like The Life Aquatic was.
Rating: 9

Plot: The last woman he visits, that whole scene seemed way too contrived. The whole scene left an impact of 'fake' to the whole film. It just seemed over the top to me. The end left me somewhat longing for... Well, an ENDING. It's kind of just left out there. The plot is the worst part of the film I think, but it's still good.
Rating: 7

Mood: To begin the six blatant MAPQUEST references had me joking about how great this movie, entitled Mapquest was. I hate that. There were a few too many scenes of him traveling for me which brought the mood down a touch. But the scenes where he's interacting with people and the overall theme of the film was really deep and a lot of effort was put into making it just right. I just wish the musical score had not used the same song more than once. So mixed review, but overall good.
Rating: 7

Well, no I've never had a threesome before, and no you're right, especially not with a mother and my potential daughter.

Overall Rating: 82% (A Bloomin' Good Film)

Aftertaste:This is one of those weird movies that has each and every element about being good or great, but it still kind of sat ill at ease with me. The plot, though good, left me wanting an ending and I left feeling a touch... Empty. I probably won't see it again, though I'm glad I got around to it, because I would have, I know it. I like Murray lots.