I am going to admit this now — I don’t get Jim Jarmusch. I have tried. Really, I have. I sort of liked Stranger Than Paradise. Better than I liked Broken Flowers. I’m just not sure what the point was to this movie or even if there WAS a point. Critics talked about Bill Murray’s sensitive performance that was perhaps his “best ever.” I would have to modify that to his “best ever after overdosing on Quaaludes.” And maybe this was Jarmusch’s best script after overdosing on Quaaludes. Maybe the whole movie was produced on Quaaludes. It seems like somewhere between conception and wrap-up, they sort of lost the point of the whole thing. It meanders along and peters out at the end. Maybe you’re supposed to take Quaaludes to watch it. It’s not that I only like films shot according to Hollywood standards. But if a movie is going to ask 100 minutes of my time, I would like it to offer something more than some guy on a random, pointless journey. Or at least be clearly marked as experimental, mind-f*** theater.

Having recently listened to Jim Jarmusch commenting on his approach to writing/directing on the companion DVD to “Down by Law” (Criterion Collection), I knew exactly what to expect in this film and I was not disappointed. A 106-minute movie should have 106 pages of script by Hollywood standards, but Jarmusch is decidedly NOT a Hollywood writer/director. His script probably had 60 pages. Lots of scenes with minimal dialog. This has led many to criticize it as slow, quiet, or boring.

To me, Broken Flowers is a very “deliberate” movie in all senses of the word: characterized by very careful, thorough consideration and awareness of the consequences, as well as unhurried and steady. There is no rush of action to a climax. Like life, it is mostly flat, with some peaks and valleys, but none of the Hollywood crescendo we’ve become all too familiar with.

I applaud Jarmusch for his daring to be different. I’m sure he was aware that this film would turn off many movie-goers, but IMHO the risk was worth it. As we get older, we may often wonder about paths not taken, relationships lost, and secrets never told. Following a bland Bill Murray through his encounters with past lovers is an adventure.

Jarmusch doesn’t editorialize. He allows the audience to fill in the blanks that he has so generously provided. This is not a film for those who want everything handed to them. It requires some work of the audience. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

This movie seemed like a good candidate for 2 hours of my time: a 7+ rating on IMDB, a powerful cast (Bill Murray, whose Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters I loved; Sharon Stone; Julie Delpy from Before Sunrise/Sunset); a cool opening with the path of a letter though the United States Postal System… but that’s where it ended.

I thought there was a point to the slow, dragging, pace of the movie – perhaps like in The Sixth Sense? But no. It dragged, and dragged, showing us in painful detail how Don drove, looked at maps and traveled in airplanes…

Who the f*%k cares about that?! If I’m interested in a boring, mundane life, all I have to do is hit Twitter. As for the rendez-vous with his past flames, I found them almost completely uninteresting and worthless. The only exception was the comment Don made regarding Lolita’s showing up naked: “That was quite an outfit you weren’t wearing last night”.

There you have it, all that’s left for me from this utterly trite piece of pointless nihilistic junk with one hell of an annoying soundtrack.

Warning – This is one depressing movie. A little like Michael Caine’s Alfie which I found much more poignant than this.

Beautiful cinematography, good story. I felt a little deflated and confused at the end, but upon reflection I think I understand the intention. It definitely has the same sort of feel as Lost in Translation, but less Hollywood gloss on the story – which is I guess a key thing with Jim Jarmusch in charge.

I’ve read some of the other comments here about the movie being boring, and not much happening. It’s certainly not an action movie, but I did not find it a struggle to sit through. I didn’t even think “are we there yet” once throughout it.

Thumbs up from me.

This is only the second Jim Jarmusch film I’ve seen. The other was Dead Man. I found this film even more unsatisfying than the last, but I appreciate that. We get enough Hollywood type stories with a neat bow on the end wrapping everything up. This film leaves you feeling exactly what the character feels in that last moment, lost and unfulfilled.

I also like how the color pink was virtually a character itself in the film. And isn’t life like that detail? Sometimes we make something significant when it’s really irrelevant and it takes us down the wrong path.

It’s beyond my expectation. I thought that I would see “Don Johnston” – the main character – reflected his life as womanizer and how he learned his mistakes after he found out that one of his ex-woman was carry his baby when they split.

Something that I could learn and share it with my friends … as we always do when we have watched a movie.

In fact, I could not even get anything. Not even a word. Yeah, automatically, because this is a quite movie, where we have to read “Don’s reflection” through his eyes, his trip, his ex-woman reaction and his trip,

The main idea of the story is good and I don’t expect that the end should be like “Hollywood” movies. Therefore I’m expecting that the strugling of the main character reflected in the scene but apparently it’s not.

I’m dissapointed

In my opinion, the entire point of cinema – good cinema – is, at its core, story telling. Lately, most films seem incapable of doing this without recycled plots, stereotypical characters, loud music, and explosions. This film is different.

We’re introduced to Don Johnston, Bill Murray’s character. He’s an aging womanizer who receives a letter one day that sends him on a quest looking for the mother of his son. We follow him on his road trip to visit five ex-girlfriends.

If this were a traditional Hollywood film, there would be less quiet, more meaningless conversation, and probably some monologue where Don finds clarity and decides to change his entire life. While I have nothing against that formula, don’t you think it’s been done enough?

I’ll admit, nothing “exciting” ever really happens. The average adult attention span is twenty minutes, so I understand how a lot of people get bored. But ultimately I like how the movie puts you right in Bill Murray’s shoes – you see the world through his eyes, and you only know what he discovers. When the credits roll, if you’ve paid enough attention, or cared about Don enough, you’ll probably have the same thoughts running through your head as he had running through his. That’s why it’s a great film.

Just finished watching this, and it’s another one of those quiet type movies. Quiet music throughout the entire thing, and not much dialogue. Pretty disappointing ending as well. I’m not sure if I would recommend the hour and 40 minutes of time on it, but it’s nice to say I’ve seen it. I just really like Bill Murray and figured it would be alright.

It has a slow deliberate pace but isn’t overly long. Every frame is carefully composed. Many shots are held an uncomfortably long time. The story structure is simple and linear and makes sense yet there is no recognizable ending. It has an anti-Hollywood style but is filled with Hollywood actors. Nothing is gratuitous. Nothing is left out. It is perfect.

I’m in the middle on this one. The ending made me want to say not worth it, but the movie had its moments and I suppose some kind of meaning. Though kind of frustrating, I guess that is a picture of life. I think the nudity was unnecessary, but I think that about most nude scenes.

I haven’t actually watched this, I’m just sick and fucking tired of All Consuming adding shit to my list on its own. This is the fourth time a movie I have no intention of watching has popped up on my list (one of which I’d never even heard of).

A couple of days ago I watched Broken Flowers. It was a choicec between this movie and Mean Girls. I hadn’t seen either but heard that Broken Flowers was good. 10 or so minutes into the movie everyone who was watching the movies was looking at each other and you can tell that nobody wanted to “Rain on the Parade” and suggest that maybe Mean Girls would’ve been a better choice. My first thought as I watched Bill Murray sitting on the couch in his depressed state was, “Hey, that’s my life.” But do we ever want to watch how pathetic we’ve become? No. I thought at one point it would get better esp. when Lolita graced the screen with her presence..but no, it just dragged on and on..one depressing moment after another. Don’t you think it’s high time Bill Murray stretches his character? How many times will he continue to play the depressed, I have no life..person? We get it already. The storyline was just okay. If what it was trying to say was the whole message of “Live in the present” that’s been said many times before. As far as the ending, or should I say no ending, I was okay with that. That does mirror life does it not?

This movie just really shows how the media can hype things up. Broken flowers may have a hint of dark comedy but really it’s just completely over-rated.

This fell short in so many ways that I cannot list them here. If you want to be entertained, stay away.

This isn’t a narrative, piece. It’s not even really a character study, but I still liked it. It just has a good vibe. Bill Murray, playing a character without any particularly strongly discerning characteristics, is just one of those guys that’s easy to watch, and the little vignettes on each of his “broken flowers” were each, for me, interesting little paintings of what can go wrong with people’s lives. It’s also very much a european style film, with little external dilemma, and with an ending that could generously be called inconclusive.