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Broken Flowers Director: Jim Jarmusch Rating: M SHOWINGHERE 
On the surface Jim Jarmusch's films might appear to be slow moving but at the same time they can very easily sneak up on you. The beauty of 'Broken Flowers' lies first in its visual simplicity and second in Jarmusch's always-enjoyable depiction of quirky character relationships and sharp dialogue. But aside from the director's obvious talents and his ability to find the right Director of Photography and the right cast for each film, 'Broken Flowers' has a subdued sense of tenderness and melancholy that is accentuated by its languid pace and simplistic view of suburban America.
The story follows retired tracksuit-wearing sad-eyed Don Johnston (Bill Murray) who one day gets dumped by his girlfriend (Julie Delpy) and receives an anonymous letter from an old flame informing him he has a teenage son who may be on his way to find him. Nosy neighbour and amateur private investigator Winston (Jeffrey Wright) forces Don to drag himself across several states to find and subsequently play sleuth with four of his ex-girlfriends in the hope he finds out who sent the letter. It's classic Murray; his straight-faced, almost depressive delivery perfectly gauged, as is his repartee with the show-stealing Wright. He's a tired Casanova and as such he sometimes echoes both his Bob Harris ('Lost In Translation') and Steve Zissou ('The Life Aquatic'). Don's ex-girlfriends include Sharon Stone and Tilda Swinton (flanked by a couple of thug mechanics) but it's the hippie-cum-real estate agent played by Frances Conroy who is the most pleasantly confounding. Jarmusch makes great use of recurring motifs. Don's driving from airports in rented cars, the roads all looking the same, the snapshots of basketball rings and the colour pink, and the mesmerising Ethiopian jazz soundtrack are all details however small that twinkle in the resolutely bare beauty of Frederick Elmes' photography and Jarmusch's ingeniously concise script. Other memorable moments include Don's meeting with a teenage Lolita - complete with loveheart earrings - to a snappy Chloe Sevigny to a snippet of Stoner Metal's Holy Grail, Sleep's Dopesmoker. It's an eccentric mix that Jarmusch has so often pulled-off before. Like his 'Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai' it's the absurd combined with the poignant that makes his latest film as enjoyable as the best of his work.  |
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