You have to be a pretty big fan of Parker Posey to outlast “Broken English,” an offhand romantic comedy that hands a juicy role to the indie-movie actress.
Posey is terrific in this humdrum look at the dating life of Manhattan single Nora Wilder, who works in Guest Relations at a chic hotel and is well on the far side of 30. (Already, the movie sounds stale.)
We wade through a few amusing misfires for Nora, including a liaison with a TV actor (Justin Theroux, wearing a Mohawk) and a bungled first date with a family friend (Josh Hamilton) who hasn’t gotten over an ex.
Nora watches the more-or-less successful marriage of two friends (Drea de Matteo and Tim Guinee), gets unwanted advice from Mom (Gena Rowlands), and grows more skeptical.
Then, just like in the movies, she goes to a party and meets a puppyish Frenchman (Melvil Poupaud) who is charming, stylish, and doesn’t take advantage of her when she’s drunk.
The sequences with the Frenchman are either the draggiest or most interesting scenes in the movie, depending on how quickly you want to keep things moving along. The gears shift again for the final act, as Nora and galpal go to Paris for a few days.
“Broken English” is written and directed by Zoe Cassavetes, the daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, a legendary couple in the history of independent cinema. She has an ear for dialogue and a good hand with actors, and she clearly doesn’t want the movie to be a slick Hollywood product.
That’s no excuse for how bad it looks, however. And I can’t think of a single justification for the film’s egregious theft of the final situation (and even lines of dialogue) from Richard Linklater’s 2004 film “Before Sunset.” What were they thinking?
There’s something out of touch about this movie – the way the two women complain about their boxy hotel room in Paris, as though everyone complains about such things.
These irritations outweigh some nice scenes, most of which are down to Parker Posey’s skill at balancing her comic tools with something more heartfelt. She never lampoons or cheapens Nora’s search for connection, which makes us care about this movie more than it deserves.
Parker Posey and Justin Theroux in “Broken English.”
Gena Rowlands and Parker Posey in “Broken English.”
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