Broken English DVD with Parker Posey, Melvil Poupaud, Gena Rowlands (PG-13) +Movie Reviews

I just want to be loved

Raychel G. Terschluse | St.Louis, MO | 08/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Have you ever known that you would just love a movie without having seen it or heard anything about it? I was at Best Buy and I just saw the cover and recognized Parker Posey and bought it without thinking, a little impulsive. Or maybe I just always expect great things from Parker. From the beginning lyrics and opening scene I knew I was in for a treat.

Parker plays Nora Wilder, an average twentysomething female just kind of living her life, but not loving life. In the opening scene we see her get ready for a dinner party and she is walking around anxiously. Sipping red wine and staring at herself in the mirror we can tell that she is a little broken. She is beautiful but she doesn't know it. She is unsure of herself and is afraid.

All of her friends seem happy and Nora just kind of tip toes through life. She dates but nothing ever goes her way, though no fault of her own. She just wants to be truly loved, but she has no love for herself. Nora reminds me of myself and I am sure every woman has a little Nora in her.

But one night Nora bumps into a man that takes a notice to her and through all her fighting and insecurities she submits and lets herself get swept away. But she is so desperate for someone to love her that she has put a wall up because she is ultimately afraid of getting hurt and this has created somewhat of an anxiety disorder. There is a great scene that shows just how vulnerable she is. She is having dinner with a man and thinks that he is mad at her so she excuses herself to the bathroom and starts to yell at herself for making a mistake.She ultimately ruins the evening because she has to run home to take medication for her anxiety.

The plot thickens when she falls in love with the mystery guy but he is only in town for a few days and he is leaving for Paris soon. Will she stay or will she go? She needs to decide what her life has become and what makes her happy.

This is a long movie- and I enjoyed every second of it. This is a movie about an insecure woman who is coming to grips with her insecurities and her emotions and decides to take charge. But this isn't an overnight solution- it takes time and heart. Broken English really touches at reality and our real relationships with ourselves. We don't always hold our head up high and we often try to go through life unnoticed. But in the end the message is clear- to be loved we must learn to love ourselves."

Nora Gets Real

MICHAEL ACUNA | Southern California United States | 06/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Nora (the usually whacked-out though always effective Parker Posey) is a late 30's Guest Relations manager in a groovy NYC hotel. She is at the end of her rope relationship-wise having spent the bulk of her romantic life avoiding love and having love avoid her. We all know a Nora: hungry for a man, a relationship but when a "good catch" (whatever that means to Nora) comes near, Nora thinks of a hundred reaasons why it wouldn't work and retreats behind the emotional wall she has psychically built for herself: a wall of regret and lame excuses held together with the cement of many years of tears and self-loathing.

Her mother, Vivien (the National treasure and director Zoë Cassavetes' mother as well, Gena Rowlands) encourages her to grab life by the neck and shake it until it releases something good and so Nora, uncharacteristically attends the party of one of her co-workers and in the process meets a laid-back, good-natured Frenchman, Julien (Melvil Poupaud of "Time to Leave") whose "Broken English" has Nora confusing his saying "I'm hungry" with "I'm Angry."

Nora and Julien spend an idyllic weekend in New York and director Cassavetes manages to avoid all the usual clichés as Nora basically freaks out, pulls back and unfurls again both emotionally and physically while Julien watches, reacts in a calming, encouraging manner much to Nora's surprise who is both attracted and repelled by Julien's coolness.

"Broken English" is a small film not likely to attract much attention but that would be a shame because what Cassavetes has managed to do is to make not only the ridiculous sublime but to also make, in it's quiet, well observed way... the sublime human and believable.

"

A Little Zoë Cassavetes Triumph

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 08/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"BROKEN ENGLISH has so many of the elements of films that are becoming difficult to find these days - superb intelligent script, a story that is frankly what it is instead of an overdone parody of itself, a director who knows how to pace a storyline to keep it compelling, and a cast of first class actors who have the gift of diving right to the core of characters we all meet every day and making us care about them. Writer/director Zoë Cassavetes may be young in her trade, but she here gives evidence that she clearly knows her way around creating fine movies!

Nora Wilder (a mesmerizingly fine Parker Posey) has looks, a good job as a client relations director of a smart New York hotel, but she is now in her thirties and in comparison to her friends she is a social wasteland. She simply cannot find a satisfying relationship in this time of fast one night stands. Her mother (Gena Rowlands) is supportive of her plight and her best friend Audrey (Drea De Mateo, proving that she indeed is a fine actress) who is supposedly in a 'good marriage' with Mark (Tom Guinee) understands her needs and is willing to help, but all Nora can end up with are losers like mouthy actor Nick Gable (Justin Theroux) and morning after hangovers - until she encounters Frenchman Julien (Melvil Poupaud). Julien sees and appreciates Nora for who she is and while Nora seems on the brink of having found the perfect guy, her past history of failed romances prevents her from staying in the moment. But when Julien must return to Paris (seemingly the door of exit for yet another mismatch), Nora eventually gathers her courage and accompanied by Audrey sets off to Paris in hopes of joining the effervescent Julien. In Paris the two women search but cannot find Julien, but what Nora finds is herself - and that is rewarded by a climax that brings the film to a satisfying close.

Though Parker Posey has given us some excellent independent film roles in the past, nothing can match the magic she brings to this role. In fact the entire cast is so fine and so well motivated and directed by Cassavetes that every detail of the film is polished and shines like a the little triumph the film is. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, August 07

"

Nothing Broken About This 'English'

Rudy Palma | NJ | 09/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Writer/director Zoe Cassavettes' "Broken English" is an engaging yet understated slice of life that zipped in and out of arthouse theaters in early summer. Its message ("you must love yourself before love finds you") is not only the least virginal territory a screenwriter could dare to tread, it is the essence of gooey, sentimental sap. What really makes it worthwhile is its gorgeous shots of Paris and its star Parker Posey, who is as radiant as her acting ability is boundless. Just when you think you've seen all she can do, she proves you wrong and comes off effortless all the while.

Posey is Nora Wilder, a wine-guzzling train ready to jump the track. Sure, she may not have a man, but everything else seems in order - a steady job, a spiffy Manhattan apartment, healthy relationships with her friends and family. At her core, however, resides a deep-seated insecurity that in her mid-30s is coming to a head.

"What is wrong with me?," she asks herself. "Why can't I meet someone nice?"

She then concludes she must be the problem: "I think I must be doing something horribly wrong."

Her mother Vivien, played by acting legend Gena Rowlands, tries to help but only makes her feel more self-conscious. "The good ones get snapped up so quickly at your age," she says in a half-hearted effort to console her daughter.

Nora gets set up on dates that, despite herself, she agrees to go on. Whether she is the reason behind her lack of success is not as important as her lack of self-assuredness. When at last she finds something worth holding onto in a young Frenchman named Julien, played by Melvil Poupad, she finds herself at an unexpected crossroads, flakey as ever in the face of making tough decisions.

She soon heads off to Paris with her friend Audrey, played to perfection by Drea de Matteo, in tow. Is Julien her only objective, however, or is there more to her journey than even Nora may know herself?

Cassavettes' script at once appears to be a litmus test for romance in a modern, fast-paced world, and it is, but it still requires that the viewer suspend disbelief at several junctures in the plot. This chips away at the film's merit slightly, but it does not invalidate it. The acting is sufficient at worst and stellar at best across the board, and Nora's personal predicaments will be instantly relatable to anyone at all who is introverted, shy or just plain challenged when it comes to relationships.

Like her brother Nick did when he directed the megahit 2004 adaptation of "The Notebook" by romance author Nicholas Sparks, Cassavettes casts her mother (Rowlands) in a small role. Unlike him, however, she does not maximize the emotional schmaltz to the level the script allows for. "Broken English" is by no means a happily-ever-after story of "Cinderella" proportions, and if it were it would insult the intellectual capabilities of its viewers.

With a search for love as its driving force and a complex female protagonist, "Broken English" may seem to smatter of cookie cutter Lifetime fare. What makes the difference is that despite its faults the plot boasts a good head on its shoulders that not only portrays both sexes fairly and honestly but boasts one of our generation's most underappreciated film actresses doing what she does best from the first frame to the last. For that, it is a worthy 93 minutes.

"

A Good Man Is Hard To Find ...Or Is It A Good Woman...?

B. Merritt | WWW.FILMREVIEWSTEW.COM, Pacific Grove, California | 11/08/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Women nowadays don't feel the need to connect with men on a marital plain. And that is pretty much how Nora Wilder (Parker Posey, Fay Grim) feels her life turning out.

Bad date after bad date, Nora leaps headlong upon every man she meets or is set up with (including one horrible blind date arranged by her mother, played by the estimable Gena Rowlands).

From meeting movie stars to momma's boys, Nora is sure that she'll spend the rest of her life withering away, loveless and alone. Even her job at an upscale hotel seems headed toward nowheresville. But then she happens upon Julien (Melvil Poupaud), a visiting Frenchman with no reservations about relationships. Their dating rapidly escalates but each holds back their love for fear of losing themselves to the opposite sex.

Funny moments occur as Julien's poor English enunciation turns mundane subjects into firecracker discussions. Nora's stress of dating someone she might actually grow to care about leads her to alcohol and her medicine cabinet, needing something to salve her anxiety about how much she's beginning to care for Julien.

When Julien finally tells Nora that he has to go back to Paris, it is a hammer's blow to Nora's life. Julien begs her to come with him, but Nora has friends, family, and a job to worry about. So Julien leaves and gives her his phone number "just in case..."

"Just in case" happens, as Nora flies with a friend to Paris and quickly learns that she's lost Julien's phone number. Unable to locate him ("His name is like John Smith in America"), she decides to simply enjoy herself while on vacation and scurries about Paris. But when it comes time to leave, she can't. She realizes that she's been staying in Paris only to see Julien again. She remains for a while longer but finally, regretfully, decides to return to the U.S. On her trip to the Paris airport, however, she discovers she's riding the train with Julien, and the two reconnect via happenstance and serendipity.

Although smaltzy and awkward in many places, BROKEN ENGLISH has that quirky feel to it that makes many of its failings watchable. Parker Posey gives a powerful emotional performance as a woman in conflict with the times and her need to connect with someone meaningful. French actor Melvil Poupaud is handsome, a bit gruff, and just as strange as Parker Posey's character, which makes them play off each other exceptionally well.

The pacing of the film is exceptionally slow, however, especially the first five minutes in which all we do is watch Parker Posey put on make-up and look in the mirror five-hundred times; something you should be prepared for. The pacing does pick up in places, but it can get tiresome watching the mundane for just as many minutes later on."

Search - Broken English on DVD

Movie Details

Similar Movies

Similarly Requested DVDs

Member Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews