| BROKEN ENGLISH |
 2007 - USADirector: Zoe Cassavetes
- Reviewed by Linda
Nora seems to get the leftovers from Sex and the City: a charming TV actor (Justin Theroux) ends up failing to mention his girlfriend (Nora finds this out on a sleazy entertainment show); Charlie (Josh Hamilton), despite being a setup date from their respective mothers, seems like a good guy, until Nora discovers that he is a walking fresh wound because of his recent ex. On top of that, her friends Audrey and Mark (Drea de Matteo and Tim Guinee) are celebrating their fifth anniversary—after being introduced to each other by Nora. Then all seems to change when Nora meets the younger Frenchman Julien (Melvil Poupaud). Julien shows up at a party just as Nora has given up on it. He looks kind of like a cheesy Kevin Federline, so it is no suprise when Nora says, "Thanks, but I was just leaving..." to his intense attentions. But she decides to stay, not really giving him a chance, but at least tolerating him for the evening. She is surprised that he likes her. We, like her, think he is just trying to hook up. But as Nora puts the brakes on, Julien seems to like her more. When she finally lets her defenses down, oops, he has to go home to Paris. So much for the long romantic weekend with Maybe-Mr.-Right. The second half of the film bascially involves more moping, drinking, and sedation, as Nora again mourns her lonely life. The film almost sparks back to life when Audrey decides to haul Nora's glum ass to Paris to find Julien, but at that point we are as bored with Nora's self-imposed blahs as she is. Though only a 90-some minute film, the pace drags as we are forced to wade through Nora's sludgy, bleary-eyed view of the world. Despite all her charms, even Parker Posey barely makes Nora tolerable. As for the rest of Broken English, I thought (like Julien) that it would do all the characters a lot of good to just get out of Manhattan and see something of the world. Paris may not be the answer to everything, but it may be a start. |
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Indie-crush Parker Posey takes it down a notch in the romance Broken English, a film that struggles to find a bit of humor in the seemingly dismal existence of its main character Nora (Posey). Nora is a professional woman in her 30s, and despite having a good job running customer relations at a hotel, and living in a fine apartment in New York City (an achievement for anyone, I hear). She can't seem to land a man, and it is depressing her.
