Bill Murray has a funny name in Jim Jarmusch's new film "Broken Flowers," winner of the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival: Don Johnston. It sounds a lot like the name of that eighties actor guy, the one from that show, "Miami Vice," only there is a "t" in our weary bachelor hero's moniker—-an important distinction which he has to explain repeatedly throughout his journey across the continental U.S.A.
Besides the effective delivery of this deadpan joke, however, Murray isn't allowed to be conventionally funny. Instead, he gives a controlled, subtle performance that seems unique to this singular film. Murray doesn't project the free-flowing non-stop hilarity seen in Jarmusch's last film "Coffee and Cigarettes." Nor does he ooze the ironic, hip charm so evident in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation." Jarmusch and Murray have collaborated to create a genuine portrait of a real person: an aging ladies man who is not discontented with his lot in life, but also not particularly happy.
Bill Murray and Sharon Stone in Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers"
When the story begins, a prostrate Don Johnston, clad in a navy blue sweat suit, is left by his girlfriend Sherry (Julie Delpy). At the same time, he receives a mysterious pink letter that informs of the existence of a nineteen year old son who may be looking for him. He takes this information (and his loneliness) next door, to the warm, bustling home of his best friend Winston (Jeffrey Wright.)
Don and Winston are an odd, tender couple in themselves. Winston, younger by many years, Ethiopian, has five young children, a luscious wife, and three jobs. Johnston no longer needs to work and lives alone. And yet, these men care for each other. It is Winston who sets Johnston on his complicated, travel-heavy course to rediscover the woman who could be the mother of his ghost child.
Enter former lovers: NASCAR widow Laura (Sharon Stone), real estate agent Dora (Frances Conroy), animal communicator Carmen (Jessica Lange), biker babe Penny (an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton), and a tombstone. Johnston arrives unannounced for each visit, and the receptions range from bitter-sweet to flat-out bitter. Each reunion is a separate story, almost a separate film unto itself. The narrative does not build from one woman unto another, nor does Johnston find the answers he is looking for. Instead, he grows more rumpled. Throughout, his curious adventures are compelling to watch.
