“So, you’re an animal psychic?”
–Don Johnston
The 2005 Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers stands the test of time. The cast includes Bill Murray, Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy, Tilda Swinton, Julie Delpy and Jeffrey Wright. In this comedy, Bill Murray plays a middle-aged Don Juan (Don Johnston) who embarks on a cross-country journey inspired by his spliff-smoking neighbor (Wright) to visit four former lovers.
Murray once told the Guardian about Broken Flowers: “Even women think, ‘That would be interesting.’ Not comfortable, but interesting. It is not a comfortable film at any point.” But, it is funny. Jarmusch told Movies Online about his approach to directing Murray: “I wanted to create a character where he was reliant on things we know or appreciate from Bill Murray. I wanted the other side.”
Murray’s character receives a mysterious letter indicating he may have a 19-year old son. So, he sets out to gather clues from his ex-lovers to ascertain who may have penned the anonymous letter. This comedy adheres to Jarmusch’s dry humor like his other films such as Coffee and Cigarettes, Down By Law, Mystery Train and The Dead Don’t Die. The Broken Flowers soundtrack, composed by the father of “Ethio-jazz”, Mulatu Astatke, proves stellar by augmenting jazz, soul, rock and reggae into one cohesive mix.
Bill Murray’s Broken Flowers performance ranks as one of his finest. Murray considered retiring after this film. “I thought that was good as I could do and I should stop,” he once said.
Smell the flowers…
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