"Broken Flowers," I guess, is supposed to be this long, contemplative film about a man's journey into his past to discover how his life and history of loves has added up. Initially, the film is structured as a mystery - as Bill Murray's character tries to find the old girlfriend who bore his son, but it's more about the journey than the destination.
But, to me, this movie was one of the most boring things I've ever sat through. There are an endless number of minutes-long takes of Bill Murray driving a car by himself. There are several scenes of him sitting alone in his living room, listening to the stereo and thinking. A couple of these scenes, where the silences could be meaningful and carry depth, would be fine in a film like this, if the film carried more weight or gave Murray's character more of a background than "a bemused, aging Don Juan." Instead, once the movie ends, I felt like it contained several good scenes where Murray interacted with the old girlfriends and about 30 minutes of dead air. Why, why, WHY were there four editing cuts done as Murray drove a Taurus down a country road? Wouldn't one shot establish the plot point as much as is necessary? I get it. He's driving.
Oh, and I figured out that Murray's character was an aging Don Juan within the first five minutes, when he's watching the movie about Don Juan. I didn't need to have Julie Delpy call him "Don Juan," then have Jeffrey Wright call him "Don Juan," then have everyone comment on how his name is Don Johnston. I get the point. Don't hammer it into the ground.
This is not a good movie. If it gets across-the-board good reviews, I'll be baffled. It's pretentious, meaningless and doesn't go very far. It doesn't function as a mystery. It doesn't function successfully as an illustration of a character. Good actors, like Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy and Sharon Stone, are given little to do in episodic scenes.
All in all, the emperor's not wearing any clothes.
But, to me, this movie was one of the most boring things I've ever sat through. There are an endless number of minutes-long takes of Bill Murray driving a car by himself. There are several scenes of him sitting alone in his living room, listening to the stereo and thinking. A couple of these scenes, where the silences could be meaningful and carry depth, would be fine in a film like this, if the film carried more weight or gave Murray's character more of a background than "a bemused, aging Don Juan." Instead, once the movie ends, I felt like it contained several good scenes where Murray interacted with the old girlfriends and about 30 minutes of dead air. Why, why, WHY were there four editing cuts done as Murray drove a Taurus down a country road? Wouldn't one shot establish the plot point as much as is necessary? I get it. He's driving.
Oh, and I figured out that Murray's character was an aging Don Juan within the first five minutes, when he's watching the movie about Don Juan. I didn't need to have Julie Delpy call him "Don Juan," then have Jeffrey Wright call him "Don Juan," then have everyone comment on how his name is Don Johnston. I get the point. Don't hammer it into the ground.
This is not a good movie. If it gets across-the-board good reviews, I'll be baffled. It's pretentious, meaningless and doesn't go very far. It doesn't function as a mystery. It doesn't function successfully as an illustration of a character. Good actors, like Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy and Sharon Stone, are given little to do in episodic scenes.
All in all, the emperor's not wearing any clothes.