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Broken Flowers (2005)
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Movie Review by Justin 
January 19th, 2006
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Bill Murray is not simply a comic genius, he's a damn fine actor. After "Lost in Translation," I doubt if there's anyone left still unconvinced, but if you are, this film will change your mind. What Murray does here is weirdly appealing; his gestures are slight, his words few, his expression often flat and dull, but we hang on his every movement. To be sure, he's playing a guy so emotionally dull, so bland in manner, that he's circled back around to intriguing. The film itself is so dry, so restrained, so painstakingly simple that it becomes hypnotically entrancing. You may laugh, but face it, it's because you just really want to. The movie is not poorly constructed -- it doesn't take enough risks to be bad -- but it's a gyp. From early on, Jarmusch leads us to believe that the story will have a destination, when in reality it really just dissolves. Jarmusch does not look upon his hero with compassion, nor does he seem to think life allows for much hope. Some will argue that because of these qualities the film takes on a late-inning profound nature. Philosophically, perhaps. But the movie is deceptive. It doesn't prep us for the ending's frank pessimism. Of course, maybe that's the point; Jarmusch telling us that life rarely adds up, sometimes failing even to meet our lowest expectations. But in life, isn't the whole always more than the sum of its parts? Well, apparently not as far as this movie is concerned.
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