Broken Flowers

REDEEMING LOST LOVES
Sandra Kraisirideja

It’s better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all, but is it really worth it if your number of lost loves keeps mounting without an end in sight?

Director Jim Jarmusch explores the issue in “Broken Flowers” starring Bill Murray, an actor who has single-handedly created a new niche character for aging male stars: the dour, painfully confused gentleman over 50 searching for love and understanding.

Murray’s character, Don Johnston, receives an unsigned letter on pink stationery from a former girlfriend who confesses that she gave birth to his son 20 years ago and that the boy is looking for him.

The letter sets the story in motion as Murray embarks on a cross-country trip to locate which one of his past lovers may have given birth to his son.

Who hasn’t wondered what it would be like to revisit old flames to see what has become of their lives? Would seeing those people shed some insight into your own life? Better yet, how would the reappearance of an old flame change your life? This is the stuff of romance novels for the middle-aged.

Johnston’s neighbor, played by a humorous Jeffrey Wright, fancies himself an amateur detective and suggests Johnston keep an eye out for clues such as pink stationery and a typewriter. Johnston also has to bring pink flowers to each woman, hence the movie’s title.

Jarmusch spends a lot of time on the quiet moments of Johnston’s journey—sleeping on an airplane, driving in a car, looking out a window—which amplify the character’s isolation and loneliness. He captures the tedium of travel.

Murray may be the star of the movie, but the actresses who play his former girlfriends get more opportunity to shine. Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lang, and an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton take full advantage of the few minutes of screen time they have.

Murray’s character provides an audience for their monologues and its great to see these actresses in roles that seem written for them.

Source: Originally printed in Entertainment Today