Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray

10/24/2013

Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Road Movie of the Year

Star Bill Murray looks unsure of the situation, standing on a doorstep with a bouquet of flowers on this poster for Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers

A former Don Juan, who is now a very domestic aging, single gentleman, gets a letter that says he has a son, and he decides to head out and visit former lovers to learn more about this circumstance.

Broken Flowers is written and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Permanent Vacation (1980)), based on an idea by Bill Raden and Sara Driver (Sleepwalk (1986)). It is Jarmusch's 9th feature.

It is an excellent 'little' film. 'Little' because the existential crisis and emotions expressed by its lead character Don (Bill Murray (Hamlet (2000))) are so limited and underplayed.
The film has a stellar cast of women that are all enjoyable, - especially Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under (2001-05)), who has a priceless dinner scene involving Don and carrots. The other women are Jessica Lange (Frances (1982)), Julie Delpy (L.A. Without a Map (1998)), Tilda Swinton (Moonrise Kingdom (2012)), Sharon Stone (Border Run (2012)) and Chloë Sevigny (Mr. Nice (2010)). Also Jeffrey Wright (W (2008)) is a joy as a male compadre to Don, and both the editing by Jay Rabinowitz (Requiem for a Dream (2000)) and the Ethiopian jazz score by Mulatu Astatke (Little Heaven (2011)) are wonderful.
Murray seems throughout the movie to be a fragile, confused man with severe hangovers, and his part is nearly too close to the one he plays in Sofia Ford Coppola's modern classic, Lost in Translation (2003).
SPOILER Broken Flowers' has an open ending seemed unresolved to me, but the film is still a gift.

The Limits of Control (2009) - Jarmusch hits career low with idea-bereft embarrassment

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justice in Jarmusch's cool treat
Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Down by Law (1986) - Jarmusch's jailbreak movie is an independent character gem

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 47.3 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.73 times its cost)

[Broken Flowers premiered 17 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place from November 2004 - ? in New York and New Jersey. The film opened #16 to a 780k $ first weekend in 27 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 433 theaters (different weeks), grossing 13.7 mil. $ (29 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 9 mil. $ (19 %) and Germany with 4.2 mil. $ (8.9 %). The film won an award at Cannes (Jury Grand Prize), was nominated for a European Film award and an Independent Spirit award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Jarmusch returned with Raconteurs: Steady, As She Goes (Version 1) (2006, music video) and theatrically with The Limits of Control (2009). Murray returned in The Lost City (2005). Broken Flowers is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Broken Flowers?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

10/24/2013

Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray

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