I hate when people make comparisons between artists and their successful parents, siblings or other relatives. I do not think it is fair and prefer to let the work stand on its own. So, I went into Broken English with as few expectations as possible. Of course, it helps that I am not overly familiar with her father's work (yet). However, there is one line in the film that makes this nearly impossible. During a discussion of parents - while on a date at an old movie - the conversation goes something like this:
Nora: I really miss him (talking about her father). I feel lucky to have had him at all, really....
Date: blah blah blah
Nora: I wonder if we always turn into our parents.
Date: I like to think of it as where my parents left off...
This is a brief moment with no real impact on the rest of the film but I liked that it was there. It was nice.
Lisa, I watched this movie with you in mind - and not just because you are the one who recommended it. I can see you drawing parallels to your life in the first half (as you mentioned in your comment). Young, successful woman in NYC finds dating frustrating...The whole scene where Nora's date sees his old girlfriend and then confesses to her that he is still in love seems like it could have been ripped directly from the digital pages of your other blog. So, I think that I see why you really like this film and why others would as well.
Even though I don't understand the "dating" scene (the thought of taking a girl I don't know to dinner and a movie is sweat-inducing and terrifying), I still found the movie to be enjoyable and one of the better takes on the girl looks for guy indie romance thing. Nora is so charming I just wanted her to be happy.
I mentioned that I was a fan of The Black Keys yesterday. They do a great cover of a Kinks song.
I think that is what Nora is looking for - someone to act nice and gentle to her. It is so simple that it's frustrating she can't find it. And then comes Julien. Off-putting at first but charming as we get to know him.
Overall, I was a fan of the movie - though I enjoyed the first half much more. Parker Posey is wonderful. She captures the role with perfect nuance and charm and makes a movie that could easy have been really bad into something brilliant to watch. Zoë Cassavetes owes her a lot for that performance.
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Fingers crossed that Tree of Life plays around here. I might drive out to Erie and stay with my sister for a night because it is likely to play somewhere closer to her. This reminds me...Lisa, the one rule of Film Club that John forgot is that you must like The New World. Nah, I'm kidding. It just seems to be the one film that everyone here can agree on completely. Have you seen it? My brief thoughts: http://thumbit.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-thought-it-was-dream-what-we-knew-in.html
Sorry, don't feel like searching around everyone else's blog for what they have said in the past. I've been thinking about this film the last few days because I usually watch it every time I have a break from school. It's a good film to see every few months, IMHO. However, I have lent my copy to a friend and it looks like this break will pass (back to class on Monday) without a viewing.
Brandon, glad to see we are on close to the same page about Funny Games. Makes me feel better. I also felt the same about (500) Days of Summer as you. It didn't do much for me even though I was hoping it would. Hope you guys are killing it on tour.
Up Next: A Woman Under the Influence
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