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88Broken English takes 30 minutes to do what most romantic comedies manage with a simple montage. That's a good thing, by the way.
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75As a director, Cassavetes is a keen observer of character and social interaction but not yet much of a visual stylist (which might also describe the improvisational dramas made by her actor/director father, John).
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75As charmingly verklemmt New York women with bad luck in men and good luck in apartments go, Nora Wilder in Broken English has all the breaks.
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75The movie needs more incident and complication; it's modest to a fault.
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75A pleasantly disposable romantic comedy starring the once and future indie-queen Parker Posey.
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70Demonstrating that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, the screenwriter-director has delivered a well-observed film boasting highly realistic performances and dialogue, if not plot elements. But it's Posey's fascinating portrayal of a thirtysomething Manhattan single woman looking for love that lifts the film above its "Sex and the City" predictabilities.
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70A wry, charming romance about a New York woman who has given up hope of finding love.
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A well-acted, smartly directed film that's depressing because it could have amounted to so much more. It departs from the studio-financed romantic-comedy template in just one, unfortunately fatal respect: it makes a point of pride out of rejecting cliché, then swoons into its embrace.
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70A 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.
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67This movie belongs to Posey, and her nuanced performance makes Broken English a worthy adventure.
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67There's not a lot of story here and the dialogue lacks the snap one usually gets in New York stories of affluent young adults, but the characters have an authenticity.
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63There is a very good movie named "Before Sunset" that begins more or less where this one ends. Which tells you something right there.
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63Cassavetes, who wrote the script, proves her skill with actors in this woozy push-and-pull of slurred compliments and shaky hopes for whatever lies beyond the next day.
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63Both neurotic and endearing, it's so carefully accessorized you may not even notice that, at heart, it's a standard-issue romantic comedy.
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63Posey is a delight throughout, and Zoe Cassavetes is clearly a filmmaker to watch.
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63For all its impeccable indie credibility, writer-director Zoe Cassavetes' bittersweet romance is little more than a hipster chick flick in which the same old smart women make the usual foolish choices.
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63A conventional New York-lonely hearts story made watchable by one element and one element only: Parker Posey.
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63It's the kind of film that will resonate only with a tiny fraction of the available audience. Unless a viewer's age and situation mirrors that of Posey's Nora Wilder, odds are that this movie will generate a sense of déjà vu.
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63It's the stuff of countless advice columns, daytime talk shows, sitcoms, romantic comedies. Quite frankly, it's tired. What makes a difference here -- although really not enough of one -- is the people.
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60What began as an interesting character study ends in convention, offering only the most clichéd platitudes in summation. You can't find true love until you love yourself? Hasn't Dr. Phil been telling us that for years?
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60Despite its schizophrenic nature and often disagreeable characteristics, Broken English has flashes of something. You might say it has an integrity of purpose, if not of execution.
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Posey remains touching as the woman with happiness in sight but bewilderingly out of reach.
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50Broken English doesn't break any code or offer original insights on the subject. But there's a spark whenever Posey and Poupaud are together.
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50Almost nothing that's said or done here is convincing. And the energy is set at near-coma level.
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50If Broken English occasionally falls prey to a bit too much self-conscious lethargy, it's still a welcome chance to see Posey at her flighty, edgy best.
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50How Posey's neurotic, self-destructive heroine finds her way to healing is the core of this generous film, whose moral is that happiness can't begin unless you're open to its possibility.
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50Given the gift of Posey at the peak of her powers, Cassavetes squanders her star in low-key, go-nowhere conversations, shot without flair and drained of any improvisatory energy.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 9
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Mixed: 0 out of 9
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Negative: 1 out of 9
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EllenH.8
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sarahs8
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MelS6Sad. Good acting, but slow and sad.