Broken Flowers (2005)

It's been sat on the DVD recorder for months, and we've now finally got round to watching Broken Flowers. I was a bit reticent to watch it as I feared it may be a Lost in Translation snooze-fest, what with it starring Bill Murray in stoic-mode. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that, although it's directed in a very slow, understated manner, this film was much more enjoyable than hoped. 

The plot is fairly slight and, I felt, not really the point - there's no resolution to the central mystery that drives the movie. The point I think is the people that Bill Murray's Don Johnston meets along the way, and the general off-beat tone. Don receives a letter from a women he was with 20 years ago, telling him about the son he never knew existed. The problem is, the letter isn't signed, so Don (unwillingly and with urging and assistance from Jeffrey Wright's funny neighbour) sets off on a trip down memory lane to meet the 4 women he was with 20 years ago. Don's seems to be irrestistible to women, and many flirt with him along the way, but it's hard to see what they're attracted to! Bill Murray looks rather old with his grey hair, and the character doesn't often utter a word - maybe it's the stoicism the women like?

Broken Flowers is quirky without being irritating, and slow without being boring, and ultimately doesn't answer the central mystery, yet it is strangely satisfying. I think I've come to appreciate stories that don't always have an easy pay-off, or even a pay-off at all - maybe that's due to all The X-Files I've been exposed to, or maybe it's down to the many movies with contrived or forced conclusions. Either way, it's made me appreciate films like Broken Flowers, Sunshine Cleaning and Up in the Air. It's not always about the ending, sometimes it's about the encounters along the way. That sounds almost philosophical - it's a maxim you could apply to life I suppose - forget the ending and enjoy the journey.