BROKEN FLOWERS

In Jim Jarmusch's Cannes Grand Prix winner, Bill Murray plays Don Johnston, a weathered, aging lothario and terminal bachelor forever explaining to bemused people that his last name is Johnston with a "T". Shortly after his latest flame, Sherry (Julie Delpy) leaves him, he receives an anonymous letter from an ex-lover who informs him that he is the father of her 19-year-old son, who has just left home and set off to find him.

Encouraged by his next-door neighbor, Winston (Jeffrey Wright), Don embarks on a cross-country trip to see four possible women who might've sent the letter, played by an impressive quartet of actresses: Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton and a surprisingly good Sharon Stone. The film's title comes from Winston's insistence that Don arrives at each woman's door unannounced, but with a welcoming bouquet of flowers. As is typical for Jarmusch, the film is exceedingly deadpan and leisurely paced, with many lingering silences occasionally punctuated by an effectively moody, thoughtfully compiled soundtrack.

By the final third, it's apparent that whether or not Don finds his son or identifies his mother is irrelevant: the film is Don: a beatific character study about loneliness and a lifetime of unforeseen changes, missed opportunities, and disquieting heartbreaks piling up. As much as the word "haunting" has become cliche, it's the most appropriate one I can think of to overall describe this film--especially in the many scenes between Don's visits simply showing him driving down a highway or sitting in a plane. They masterfully express everything that needs to be said, not in words but in silences, facial expressions and other body language.

Although not as original or all-out engaging as, say, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, this is easily Jarmusch's best film since the great STRANGER THAN PARADISE.