Broken English (2007)

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Am I Missing Something?

A Disappointing Continuation

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

First of all this movie is really NOT a comedy. It is a serious movie, a drama about sad people. My mood was very bad and I thought I should watch a comedy. This was marked as a comedy in the first place so I chose it. The movie is drop dead serious. You wont find anything to laugh at. The plot is boring, meaningless. I didn't find the relationship between the main characters romantic. It seemed superficial and cold to me. So... If you want something funny or something inspiring and romantic you wont find it in this movie. This one is just for the background while you are doing something. I would give 1 star but 2 is for some intelligent line about love which was said by an old lady.

I loved this movie. The writing was great, acting was great - Parker Posey was amazing as usual, directing was great. This is the type of movie you sit at home and watch when you are depressed about your life ha. It's sweet, and maybe unrealistic, but its about connecting with another person through chemistry and loneliness really -- it's about the human condition, the desperate, wandering, exploration of life, and the moments that you grasp onto, the ones you find hope in. It changed my mood, in a good, beautiful way. It's not a comedy, but there are moments of great writing when I laughed out loud. It's truly a romance; a sweet fantasy that rung deep in my heart, & soul.

Honest to God, halfway through B.E. I thought, "This director has watched too many John Cass. movies." I did not know his daughter directed it until I looked at the box. Lots of scenes with only one or two people on screen does not necessarily make drama. Nora was annoying, not sympathetic,and did not make an ideal victim. You don't get a Purple Heart for self-inflicted wounds. Was that supposed to be an arty ending? I was just glad it was over. On a positive note, I gotta give Zoe C. credit for doing something that was arguably a little risky, although it seemed tailored for film-fest crowd. I went out with a woman like Nora a few times, until I realized she was boring and an emotional black hole. In B.E.II, he dumps her after 2 weeks and swears never to go out with an American woman again.

Some films seem "long" because it demands the audience's attention at all times, others are so because the audience is bored. "Broken English" falls comfortably in the latter.I have a feeling, in making Broken English, Cassvetes sticks with "safe" grounds. The topic, the set, and the characters are nothing new to those familiar to the "chick flick" genre. Being an independent film, she could have been a little more bold in her story, but she was too worried about pleasing the judges than the audience.Instead, it is reduced to a "checklist" independent film. Lead role with obvious personality flaws - CHECK! Cheated by playboy celebrity - CHECK! Man in "sexy" accent - CHECK! Nice guy and gay friend - CHECK! Ethnic representation (Jewish, Hispanic, Asian, etc) - CHECK! Friend has secret psychological problems - CHECK! "Romantic" location for ending - CHECK!The interesting thing is, the broad brush Cassavetes used to paint the "typical" American woman: perpetual depression, distorted reality, aimlessly looking for "happiness" in the wrong places, fear disguised in a sense independence. Is this the message she is trying to convey?To sum up, "Broken English" tries to be groundbreaking, or topical, or both. But it ends up being a paint-by-number independent festival film. The distinction comes not from the satisfaction of the audience, but from the tick marks on the judges' evaluation forms. I hope films such as "Broken English" is not indicative of the trend in independent film making, but I am probably wrong.