charlytully Review of Broken

Broken (I) (2006)

Lou Silberling should've been BROKEN's script doctor!!!

[5/10 · 10 March 2009]

On Nov. 11, 2008, Lou Silberling pointed out here, "Doesn't anyone get it? Will IS the heroin addiction . . . " To elaborate, Lou goes on "Will (Jeremy Sisto) is the embodied spirit of Hope (Heather Graham's) heroin addiction." Too bad the cast and crew of BROKEN did not realize this while they were making the movie. Let's review BROKEN in light of Lou's insight. Hope first meets "Will" while lying on the ocean beach. (Well, sure it's possible someone on a fishing boat was about to shoot up, and a wave caused them to drop their needle in the sea, where it washed up at Hope's feet, causing her to inject herself to find out what was in this mystery hypodermic . . .) "Will" tells Hope her crappy singing is wonderful (that's the drug talking--sounds plausible enough). "Will" goes into a desert bar a 48-minute drive away from Hope's diner (BROKEN's editor does a series of three paired clock shots to PROVE that "Will" is in one place while Hope is in another, as the time is exactly the same each time the clocks are compared) and robs the bartender of his prized El Camino--in which Hope NEVER appears--at gunpoint. Lou, how does your metaphor theory of "Will" explain this grand theft auto? Oh, wait, it doesn't, because they forgot to call you in as a script doctor, not realizing that their metaphor could not hold up to any serious scrutiny. Pirandelloism (the modern mass media-driven conflict between illusion and reality) has been around for nearly a century, but rarely has it failed so miserably as in BROKEN--if that was the film-makers' actual intent. So Lou, be sure to straighten them out in time for the 10th anniversary deluxe re-release; otherwise, you won't collect any residuals, dude!