« funny strikes back | Main | cease fire »
September 5, 2005
broken flowers
Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers is the kind of film in which the camera lingers Very Importantly on every dropped item or closed door. Not every dropped item or closed door is dramatically interesting, mind you, nor are they made so by your extra 5-10 seconds of attention. If you're the type of viewer who enjoys staring at recently closed doors, then by all means, plunk down nine bucks and go nuts. If like me, you wish all of life had a 30-second skip button, you'll twitch with a profound sense of your time being wasted.
Bill Murray has won critical praise for his minimalist performance, and it's true that the man conveys more by staring at a television Very Importantly (you get several scenes of that) than most actors can with a full-blown soliloquy. But in the case of this film, in which he revisits old girlfriends of two decades prior, we would rather like to know what on earth any of the five women we meet ever, ever, ever, ever saw in this colorless, empty husk of a man. It's impossible to imagine him attracting another human being, or feeling anything himself, even lust. With all the talk of old times, nothing suggests that he's changed. This viewer left the theatre wondering if anyone like this, with this panoramic romantic history, had ever existed in the history of the planet. It feels false.
When I leave the theatre with a vague sense of having been lied to and a profound sense of having had my time wasted, no recommendation is forthcoming.
CUT TO:INT. JOHN'S HOUSE - MORNING
Shaking his head, John gets up from his desk and exits. Camera follows John to the bathroom, which he enters. John gently shuts the door behind him. Camera lingers meaningfully on door for 10 seconds. 15 tops.
FADE OUT
posted by john at 9:18 AM • permalink