Broken Flowers

Broken Flowers follows the life of Don Johnston (Bill Murray) who seems to lead a very bland life until he receives a letter in the mail from one of his ex-girlfriends that their 18 year old son has gone out to try and find out who his father is. The letter he received was anonymous so Don Johnston's neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright) is a man full of positive energy and has a true passion for crime novels. Winston takes this as an opportunity to take his knowledge of crime novels and try to solve one of his own. Once Winston gives him directions to ex girlfriends houses and phone numbers, Don hits the road.

The movie uses the search of his ex- girlfriends as a story filler for and give Bill Murrays character a little more of a background. Each girlfriend reveals just a little bit about Don Johnston but each one still leaves you with questioning how he ended up with her and at the same time it adds a little mystery to Dons character. He soon meets an ex-girlfriend Sherry (Julie Delpy), who calls him a prick after he asks if she has a son or not. This leads to her current boyfriend punching Don in the face which leads to a black eye and a trip back home with no answers. Once he finally gets home he buys a young man who was on an adventure to find something which Don takes as a clue that this was his kid. Don confesses that he is the kids father, and the homeless kid runs away from him calling him crazy which leaves Don standing in the middle of a road with a state of confusion. Roll credits.

Broken Flowers is not your typical Hollywood hit, but I do actually wish there were more movies like this one. Bill Murray is the human form of melancholy in this movie, and as the storyline seems a little bland compared to todays summer hit standards, what makes this movie is the casting of Bill Murray and the themes that come along with the film if you watch closely. That's what makes this movie better than others, it has certain themes of colors throughout and leaves you with something to talk about. You could watch this movie with a friend and talk about it for a week trying to put together the clues of the film while trying to fill in the unanswered questions. That is what this movie does that modern movies don't do now, Broken Flowers goes beyond just being a movie. Your allowed to fill in some of the story line for yourself cause there is no definite answer throughout the entire film. That is the artistic element comes in.

Broken Flowers was released in 2005, it was directed and written by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Bill Murray, Julie Deply, Sharon Stone, Jeffrey Wright and Jessica Lange. I give this film a 7 out of 10. Do yourself a favor and watch the movie more than once to appreciate it.