Customer Reviews
Painful Watching - By: F. Roberson, 23 Jun 2008 
There's quirky, fun, amusing & thought provoking films out there but sadly, this is not one of them. I think the main issue is that the viewer has no empathy with Bill Murray's character. His deadpan face just grated after a while & instilled pity rather than any sympathy. That & you just spent half the film thinking that Murray's aged badly over the last few years. Not that this is an issue in itself but a symptom of the lack of interest the film inspires. Don Johnston as a character was empty; his former girlfriends were caricatures. That said, it was great to see so many good female actresses in the cast, definitely a redeeming feature. I felt that the thin plot was overloaded with symbolism which it failed to justify. I watched it alll the way through hoping that there would be a light bulb moment & resolution. I joked about five minutes from the end that we'd see Bill Murray standing with a blank look on his face & it would just cut to the credits. And guess what, that's exactly what happened. Art for art's sake? Definitely.
Dead-pan drollery on a road-trip with an all-star cast - By: Annabel Gaskell, 06 May 2008 
The thing that raises this film above the average is its supporting cast - alll the old flames Don (Murray) visits have brilliant cameos; Jeffrey Wright as his best pal Winston brings light relief.
But Murray as ageing lothario Don is just an empty shell - he dead-pans it so much you wonder what the women saw in him. The segments of the road-trip in between the visits are largely tedious. Yet there are moments of emotion & drollness from him that make staying with it worthwhile, & the looks on the faces of his old girlfriends as it dawns who he is are worth the price of the DVD alone.
Excellent slow moving drama - By: Stampy, 16 Apr 2008 
Bill Murray (Groundhog day) stars in Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers, a story about a lonely closed off man who receives a letter from one of his former girlfriends telling him that their son is coming to look for him.
With its great acting, soundtrack & plot, this 2005 romantic drama brings a soft & touching tale about human emotions & finding yourself to the screen in a wonderful way.
Many critics have said that Murray usuallly plays the same character, a closed off sarcastic but loveable loser, so to speak. As I can see their point, there is no denying that Murray is terrific at what he does. My personal favourite role was in Lost in Translation where he played the closed off actor on a business trip in Tokyo, but this performance is equallly as brilliant, with his dead pan expressions & his silence acceptance of situations.
I have never been a huge fan of Jeffery Wright but this was his best role to date. His helper role is well executed & you have to admire his character for what he does for Don, which is a beautiful signifier of friendship & love.
The plot moves along at a slow pace, following Don as he travels around hoping to find clues about the situation. Fantastic realism with strong focus upon relationships & people's lives makes the film brilliant in its drama genre. The slow scenes in the car are brilliant, showing how life goes by brilliantly.
These scenes are made intriguing by the brilliant soundtrack. With songs from Greenhornes, Holly Golightly, Marvin Gaye & Mulatu Astatke there is a slow feel to the moments in the car & in the situations. There is an end by Greenhornes & Golightly is brilliant & reallly captures the beginning of the film.
This is one film where the ending has many questions but is a wonderful climax to a great drama & is a definite watch.
8.5/10
Murray is resplendent as a dead man walking - By: B., 19 Mar 2008 
Bill Murray is a minimalist joy in Jim Jarmusch's latest offering, Broken Flowers. Don Johnston (Murray's character) is a man going through the motions. Out of the blue he receives an unsigned letter from an anonymous former lover announcing she gave birth to Don's son nineteen years ago. With his friend, Winston (Jeffrey Wright), he narrows down the list of possibilities to four likely candidates. Soon Don hits the road in search of the son he never knew he had.
Sharon Stone is up first as Laura, a race-car driver's widow raising a teen daughter, Lolita (Alexis Dziena), whose name says it alll. Next he visits prim & proper Dora (Frances Conroy of Six Feet Under), who claims to be infertile. Then he's off to visit Carmen (Jessica Lange), an animal communicator. She bristles when Don asks about kids, but claims she's never had children. The last visit is to see Penny (Tilda Swinton - my favorite of the film), a biker-chick who can't stand the sight of Don & has a friend rough him up.
Murray is resplendent as a dead man walking. His responses so muted that at times you want to put a mirror under is nose just to make sure he's still breathing. Fans of action films will no doubt hate Broken Flowers, but for the rest of us it's a real treat.
Yes it's slow, but who said there was anything wrong with slow? - By: Adam D. Bisset, 10 Dec 2007 In this movie
The camerawork is mundane
The characterisation is patchy
The dialogue is simple
The jokes don't come thick & fast
There are no special effects or car chases
But so what - it's a pleasure to watch! All of these things help to draw us into Murray's absurd situation - by the end we feel his pain! (btw - ignore the reviewer who said the movie has no ending - it does, & it's a nice subtle twist)
