Broken English (2007 film)

Last updated
Broken English
Brokenenglishposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Zoe Cassavetes
Written byZoe Cassavetes
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Pirozzi
Edited by Andrew Weisblum
Music by Scratch Massive
Production
companies
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release dates
  • January 20, 2007 (2007-01-20)(Sundance)
  • June 22, 2007 (2007-06-22)(United States)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • French
Budget$2 million
Box office$1.9 million [1] [2]

Broken English is a 2007 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Zoe Cassavetes, in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Parker Posey, Melvil Poupaud, Drea de Matteo, Justin Theroux, Peter Bogdanovich, and Gena Rowlands.

Contents

Broken English had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2007 and a limited theatrical release in the United States on June 22, 2007. The film was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards: Best Female Lead for Posey and Best First Screenplay for Cassavetes.

Plot

Nora Wilder (Parker Posey), a single career woman, works at a Manhattan boutique hotel where her excellent skills in guest relations are the complete opposite of her skills in the romance department. If it is not her loving yet dominant mother (Gena Rowlands) attempting to set her up that consistently fails, she has her friend's (Drea de Matteo) disastrous blind dates to rely on as a backup for further dismay. She's surrounded by friends who are all either happily engaged or romantically involved and somehow, love escapes Nora—until she meets an unusual Frenchman (Melvil Poupaud) who helps her discover life beyond her self-imposed boundaries.

Cast

Release

The film screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. [3] It was also entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival. [4]

Reception

Broken English received mixed reviews. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 64% "fresh" rating, based on 73 reviews. [5] Jason Clark of Slant Magazine gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "when the picture finally resolves with the exact same ending as Richard Linklater's Before Sunset (and I mean exactly—with even the same two last lines, for God's sake), you have to wonder if Ms. Cassavetes gets out as much as her lead character eventually does." [6] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called it a "promising first film with moments exceeding that promise." [7]

The film received a score of 61 on Metacritic.

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2008 23rd Independent Spirit Awards Best Female Lead Parker Posey Nominated [8]
Best First Screenplay Zoe Cassavetes Nominated

Related Research Articles

<i>A Woman Under the Influence</i> 1974 film by John Cassavetes

A Woman Under the Influence is a 1974 American drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes. The story follows a woman whose unusual behavior leads to conflict with her blue-collar husband and family. It received two Academy Award nominations, for Best Actress and Best Director. The Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gena Rowlands</span> American actress (1930–2024)

Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands was an American actress, whose career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she collaborated with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977). She appeared in Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988), and her son Nick Cassavetes's film, The Notebook (2004). In 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, "The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus is Gena Rowlands." In November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her unique screen performances.

<i>Gloria</i> (1980 film) 1980 film by John Cassavetes

Gloria is a 1980 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It tells the story of a gangster's former girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have. It stars Gena Rowlands, Julie Carmen, Buck Henry, and John Adames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cassavetes</span> Greek-American filmmaker and actor (1929–1989)

John Nicholas Cassavetes was a Greek-American filmmaker and actor. He began as an actor in film and television before helping to pioneer modern American independent cinema as a writer and director, often self-financing, producing, and distributing his own films. He received nominations for three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and an Emmy Award.

<i>Faces</i> (1968 film) 1968 film by John Cassavetes

Faces is a 1968 American drama film written, produced, and directed by John Cassavetes. It is his fourth directorial work. The film, shot in cinéma vérité-style, depicts the final stages of the disintegrating marriage of a middle-aged couple, played by John Marley and newcomer Lynn Carlin. Cassavetes regulars Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, Fred Draper and Val Avery also star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parker Posey</span> American actress and musician (born 1968)

Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She was labeled "Queen of the Indies" for her roles in a succession of independent films throughout the 1990s, such as Dazed and Confused (1993), Party Girl, The Doom Generation, Kicking and Screaming, The Daytrippers (1996), The House of Yes, Clockwatchers, and Henry Fool (1998). She is the recipient of nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Satellite Award, and two Independent Spirit Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Cassavetes</span> American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1959)

Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes is an American actor, director, and writer. He has directed such films as She's So Lovely (1997), John Q. (2002), The Notebook (2004), Alpha Dog (2006), and My Sister's Keeper (2009). His acting credits include an uncredited role in Husbands (1970)—which was directed by his father, John Cassavetes—as well as roles in the films The Wraith (1986), Face/Off (1997), and Blow (2001).

Alexandra "Xan" Cassavetes is an American actress and director. She is the daughter of Greek-American actor-director John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands. She is the granddaughter of actress Katherine Cassavetes. She is the sister of actor-director Nick Cassavetes and actor-screenwriter-director Zoe Cassavetes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiara Mastroianni</span> French actress and singer (born 1972)

Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni is a French actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.

<i>Opening Night</i> (1977 film) 1977 film by John Cassavetes

Opening Night is a 1977 American psychological drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes, and starring Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell, Paul Stewart, Zohra Lampert, and Cassavetes. Its plot follows a stage actress who, after witnessing the accidental death of a fan, struggles through a nervous breakdown while she prepares for an upcoming Broadway premiere.

<i>Love Streams</i> (film) 1984 film by John Cassavetes

Love Streams is a 1984 American film directed by John Cassavetes, in what would be his final independent feature and penultimate directorial project. The film tells the story of a middle-aged brother (Cassavetes) and sister who find themselves relying on one another after being abandoned by their loved ones.

<i>Personal Velocity: Three Portraits</i> 2002 film by Rebecca Miller

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Rebecca Miller. It stars Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, and Fairuza Balk as three women who escape from their afflicted lives as each struggle to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.

<i>Dedication</i> (film) 2007 American film

Dedication is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Justin Theroux, written by David Bromberg, and stars Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It was produced by Plum Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melvil Poupaud</span> French actor (born 1973)

Melvil Matthias Julien Poupaud is a French actor.

<i>Tempest</i> (1982 film) 1982 film by Paul Mazursky

Tempest is a 1982 American adventure comedy-drama romance film directed by Paul Mazursky. It is a loose modern-day adaptation of the Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The picture features John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Raúl Juliá and Molly Ringwald in her feature film debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Cassavetes</span> American actress

Zoe Rowlands Cassavetes is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She is the daughter of filmmaker John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands. She is best known for her 2007 film Broken English.

<i>Machine Gun McCain</i> 1969 crime film by Giuliano Montaldo

Machine Gun McCain is a 1969 English-language Italian crime film directed by Giuliano Montaldo and starring John Cassavetes, Britt Ekland, Peter Falk, Gabriele Ferzetti, and Florinda Bolkan. Cassavetes' spouse and regular collaborator Gena Rowlands appears in a supporting role. The film is based on the Ovid Demaris novel Candyleg, adapted by Montaldo, Mino Roli, and American playwright Israel Horovitz. It premiered at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or.

<i>Laurence Anyways</i> 2012 film

Laurence Anyways is a 2012 Canadian epic romantic drama film written, directed and edited by Xavier Dolan. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival where Suzanne Clément won the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress. Laurence Anyways also won the Queer Palm Award at the festival.

Peter Bogdanovich (1939–2022) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and film historian whose career spanned over fifty years.

<i>Brother and Sister</i> (2022 film) 2022 France"`UNIQ--ref-00000003-QINU`" film

Brother and Sister is a 2022 French drama film directed by Arnaud Desplechin, starring Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud as estranged siblings who are forced to reunite after two decades following the death of their parents. The film made its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or, and was released in theaters in France on the same day as its Cannes premiere, on 20 May 2022.

References

  1. "Broken English (2007)". Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  2. "Broken English (2007)". The Numbers . Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  3. Buchanan, Kyle (January 2012). "Parker Posey on the Glory Days of Sundance and the Perils of Modern-Day Indie Filmmaking". Vulture. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  4. "29th Moscow International Film Festival (2007)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-04-21. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  5. "Broken English". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  6. Clark, Jason (June 17, 2007). "Broken English - Film Review - Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  7. Phillips, Michael (20 July 2007). "In 'Broken English,' seeds of a promising career". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  8. Guerrasio, Jason (November 27, 2007). "SPIRIT AWARDS ANNOUNCED". Filmmaker . Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.