DVD Reviews

Broken Flowers

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Bill Murray
• Details: US, 106 mins, 15A.

Think of any of your favourite Bill Murray characters, age him and make him depressed. Now you have a clear picture of Don Johnston (an intentional Don Juan pun heightened by moniker comparisons to a certain aging television actor *cough* Nash Bridges). Don has made his money in computers and is now retired. The film opens with his girlfriend (Delpy) leaving him and the discovery of a mysterious pink letter among his mail. The unsigned letter states that 20 years previously a former lover gave birth to their son and the son in question is currently looking for him. Don's past, unlike his present, has been rather colourful and he has no idea who it is from, but - under duress from his curious neighbour Winston (Wright) - goes on an apathetic quest to discover the truth.
Don is something of a lethargic bystander in his own life; however, Winston's avid curiosity causes him to reluctantly participate in the tracking down of four former girlfriends and, to some degree, become reengaged with himself. Broken Flowers is a series of bare encounters and a wry retelling of the bog-standard coming-of-age road trip story. This oddball tale seems to be saying that you can look for signs and omens in everything, but it will drive you to distraction and is probably a symptom of feeling your life doesn't have a meaning, purpose, or as the case is here, a legacy. This ambiguous, oddball tale is intriguing to say the least and receives bonus points for refraining from flashback. Of course, this is all open to interpretation.

Review by Elaine Reilly