Broken Flowers

Jim Jarmusch, 2005

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Bill Murray delivers one of his more subdued performances, similar in a sense to his character in Lost in Translation. But while his Bob Harris character in Lost in Translation had a more cynical sense of humor with a certain degree of energy to pursue some level of enjoyment, his Don Johnston character here is more gloomy and forsaken. He has a sheer deadpan quality to him. In the first few minutes of the film you see his weary girlfriend (Julie Delpy) walking out on him, giving you the feeling that it's one of many over the years. He goes on to sit frozen on the couch like a reclusive ghost with the lights off, like he is in a heartbroken purgatory. He would continue to do this indefinitely if it weren't for his intrusive friend / wannabe private investigator Winston (Jeffrey Wright) pressing him on details and really causing him to get up and get moving. Winston is living the opposite life as Don, with a loving wife and active children running around. When Winston gets knowledge of the letter he pushes Don to probe the possibilities. This leads Don on a wild goose chase, desperately hoping to find out which one of his several exes have given birth to his son.

You get the feeling that Don feels like he's getting a last chance for something. Perhaps be present in SOME kind of relationship. He may not have any faith in pursuing a new relationship with a woman, but who knows, maybe his oddball personality can mesh well with a young child. You don't really get any sense that he wants to change for the most part. So you continue to watch Don drag himself through his past. He is served with some smiles, some frowns. It's quite obvious that some relationships had ended much more poorly. The differences between the women are quite dramatic, it seems as if Don continued to try to connect with varying personalities without much success.

Jarmusch really creates an interesting picture here. It certainly isn't fast-paced. It moves along at Don's pace. He has grown into a tired crawl in his life. But it's a picture that doesn't bore. Bill Murray has that ability to keep you engaged with his character, no matter how detached he may be. His pursuit pulls you in and keeps you wondering to the bitter end. 

Elizabethtown

Cameron Crowe, 2005

(REWATCHED)

3/5

Drew Baylor is a shoe designer who is feeling the guilt of a huge loss for his company. He assumes things can't get any worse for him, and then he receives a phone call from his sister telling him that his father died. He soon must travel to his father's hometown of Elizabethtown as the family comes together for the funeral. 

People over the years have horribly criticized Elizabethtown. And unfairly. Anyone who is a fan of Cameron Crowe's work can feel his presence in this. He's there. It's just that there's too much of him there. It's unfair to just completely dismiss Elizabethtown as a mess. It's not a mess. There's just TOO MUCH going on. Cameron Crowe obviously had a lot to say. But this should have been two movies. Maybe three. The story of losing his father, and returning home to Elizabeth. One film. And I know, Garden State. But Crowe would have executed that better than Zach Braff. Him meeting Claire on an airplane? It's a great story, it really is. But thats another film. Both stories were conflicting. They didn't blend well and didn't play nice with each other. It's a shame, because some of the scenes in this film feel so real. The late night phone conversation with Claire. The chaos of the cousins screaming in the tight house. The forced neurotic distractions by his mother. At times the characters in the film do feel like caricatures, but they are still placed in very real moments.

Too much teasing. By the time the funeral scene rolled around, Claire should have been pregnant. "I Like You" – they should have been and were in love at that point. Orlando Bloom is engaging, it's just a shame that Crowe over-used him. Transitional shots of him dancing on an iron bridge, aimlessly pacing through his hotel room. Let him play to his strengths. Let the story breathe. His character was complex, and a lot of the time you could just see it on his face.

The roadtrip scene in the final act is the dagger in the heart of Elizabethtown. The intended emotion to that chapter is lost because you are still feeling (or should be) the effects of the funeral. Instead of the film ending at the funeral, you now have to get in a car with Drew for 42 hours. In the end, it's probably a film that probably looked so good on paper. It has all of the qualities of a Cameron Crowe film. Great music, real love, real emotion. Unfortunately it was just scattered all over the place. Maybe the editor is to blame. Maybe its Crowe. Either way, there should have been meetings about this. There is the real possibility that Cameron Crowe could have had two great films here, instead he had one OKAY one.

The Squid and the Whale

Noah Baumbach, 2005


4/5

          An autobiographical story, Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank Berkman (Owen Kline) are pulled into the middle of their parents divorce. Unfortunately this means disrupting everything in their life that they've become accustomed to, while also trying to cope with the stresses of growing up in New York City.
          The film is fueled by remarkable acting. Jeff Daniels, who plays Bernard Berkman (the Father), brilliantly pulls off the self-absorbed, pedantic & frugal father who is more focused on his own id-impulses than the well-being of his children. Daniel's role was originally intended to be for Bill Murray who decided to pass and take a break after filming Broken Flowers. I am never happy to see Bill Murray turn down a role, but an exception is warranted here. Bernard is conflicted. He needs to feel like the smartest guy in the room. His self-perceived intellect puts him on his own desert island in his mind, and while some may visit temporarily - nobody is perfectly fit to live there but himself. A trait of a true egomaniac. Laura Linney plays Joan (the wife) who is making up for lost time as a divorcee after being stuck in an unhappy marriage with the man she hadn't loved in years. She wrongfully kept an affair secret for years and had to confront the disdain and disappointment of her own son after it was revealed. Jesse Eisenberg gives the best performance I've seen him in, The Social Network included. He seems to fit into this niche where he can effectively play the awkward and introspective guy who can turn agitated and abrasive on a dime. Interestingly enough his characters always end up being similar but he somehow changes the flavor just enough. Credit is also due to Owen Kline in his role as the younger brother. Demonstrating odd behavior at the dawn of puberty, he ultimately comes off as vulnerable and confused. Most of his odd behavior could easily be dismissed as a call for help, but its more than that. Even with his undeveloped emotions there is a noticeable sense of anger. He looks at himself in the mirror and is disappointed to see the similarities between himself and his parents.
          There's such a blend of constantly surging emotional elements that you just sit back and observe. There's plenty of drama but a few occasional laughs provide some levity. I would imagine that this film will hit especially harder for people who had to unfortunately endure their own parents divorcing when they were young.