Broken English

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

Broken English takes 30 minutes to do what most romantic comedies manage with a simple montage. That's a good thing, by the way.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The movie needs more incident and complication; it's modest to a fault.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

As 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).

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

A pleasantly disposable romantic comedy starring the once and future indie-queen Parker Posey.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

As 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.

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

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.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Demonstrating 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.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

A wry, charming romance about a New York woman who has given up hope of finding love.

Variety Dennis Harvey

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

There'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.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

This movie belongs to Posey, and her nuanced performance makes Broken English a worthy adventure.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Both neurotic and endearing, it's so carefully accessorized you may not even notice that, at heart, it's a standard-issue romantic comedy.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

It'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.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It'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.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

For 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.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Posey is a delight throughout, and Zoe Cassavetes is clearly a filmmaker to watch.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Cassavetes, 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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

There is a very good movie named "Before Sunset" that begins more or less where this one ends. Which tells you something right there.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

A conventional New York-lonely hearts story made watchable by one element and one element only: Parker Posey.

Film Threat Jamie Tipps

What 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?

Village Voice Michelle Orange

Posey remains touching as the woman with happiness in sight but bewilderingly out of reach.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Despite 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.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Given 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.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Broken English doesn't break any code or offer original insights on the subject. But there's a spark whenever Posey and Poupaud are together.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Almost nothing that's said or done here is convincing. And the energy is set at near-coma level.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

How 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.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

If 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.