| | | So Many Mr. Wrongs. So Few Mr. Rights.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Spanish, Subtitled
Nora Wilder, a thirty-something Manhattanite plugging away at her job in a posh downtown hotel, can't help but wonder what it is she has to do to find a relationship. After a series of disastrous first dates, she meets Julien, a quirky Frenchman with a passion for living. Inevitably, Nora has to look inward before she can find a new outlook on life and most importantly, love.
"A career-defining performance for the exquisite Parker Posey." DarkHorizions.com
"It is that rare romantic comedy in which women can actually see themselves." Pam Grady, Reel.com
"...[a chance for Posey to] showcase her gift for more subtle, dramatic acting..." Richard Propes, IndependentCritics.com
Editor's Note
Known mainly for playing quirkily comic characters, Parker Posey shows she can tackle a serious role just as skillfully in Zoe Cassevetes's moving film. BROKEN ENGLISH stars Posey as Nora Wilder, a thirtysomething whose disastrous dating experiences in the Big Apple have put her on the verge of giving up all hope when it comes to love and happiness. Constant comparisons to her best friend Audrey's (Drea de Matteo) seemingly perfect marriage, and her overbearing mother's (Gena Rowlands) fixations on her single status wear on Nora, making her vulnerable to even the slightest hint of male attention, like the advances she gets from a sexy and famous actor (Justin Theroux) who begins bunking at the chic hotel where she works. After a string of equally failed attempts, Nora starts to wonder if there's something wrong with her. It's at this ultimate low when a visiting Frenchman (Melvil Poupaud) swoops in with charm and aggressively woos Nora, who, despite being filled with reluctance, cannot shake the feeling that this one might be different.Posey displays palpable desperation and convincing loneliness as a woman at the age when societal pressure to settle down reaches a peak. While many chick lit titles have tackled this topic, Cassavetes does so with realism and respect. She infuses her film with great sadness but also hope, making Nora a unique character despite her potentially clichéd predicament. Unlike BRIDGET JONES, BROKEN ENGLISH never mocks its heroine. Thanks to fine camera work and especially riveting musical touches, Cassavetes brilliantly keeps the audience in Nora's head at all times, filling viewers with the same doubts that her protagonist has, and making us guess what the outcome will be until the very last frame.
| Features | Audio: English | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: Spanish |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: MAGNOLIA PICT HM ENT |
| Release Date: 12/31/2007 |
| Running Time: 98 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2007 | | Catalog ID: 10089 | | UPC: 00876964000895 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (2007) | | | Sundance Film Festival, Zoe R. Cassavetes, Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic |
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| | Professional Reviews | Box Office
"[E]minently endearing....[The film has] a bold sense of direction." 06/22/2007 p.63Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "Stark, moving and above all honest, Cassavetes's understated dramedy hangs on Posey's complex, flawed and very believable Nora..." 11/23/2007 p.111 Variety 8 of 10
A pitch-perfect lead performance by Parker Posey and debuting feature writer-helmer Zoe Cassavetes' deft, low-key approach raise "Broken English" a couple notches above the usual run of lonely-single-woman-seeking-romance-in-the-big-city yarns. Though there's little unfamiliar here, pic's tipping the scales more toward latent-depression drama and away from typical rom-com situation gags (the humor here is more offhand) makes it seem truer to life than many similar exercises...Cassavetes (daughter of Rowlands and the late John) has crafted a screenplay that nicely balances seriousness and wit, negotiating familiar territory with enough alert intelligence to avoid excess deja vu. As a director, she seems mostly focused on the very good performances, which are often funny but more subtle than the norm for this terrain...Ethereal electronica score by Scratch Massive is a plus in modest but decent production package. - Dennis Harvey
CompuServe 8 of 10
In a picture about the difficulty of connecting romantically once people are well beyond their college years, Parker Posey delivers a capable performance as a neurotic woman unsure of what she wants, unsatisfied with her job, envious of her allegedly happy friends. But too often the narrative drags, woman-to-woman dialogue is predictable in its oh-so-supportiveness, and the men considered attractive gain their coolness as in other films because they smoke, or wear three-day beards, or have unusual hair styles or strange hats. "Broken English," an unfair, misleading title, opened in Sundance this year and is directed to the type of audience that embraces the types of dramas and comedies that hone in on human relationships...The story, which is for the most part a chick-flick and is underdone as a narrative, appears little more than a foundation for the talents of Parker Posey, once named Queen of the Indies by Time magazine. - Harvey Karten
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