Broken

BROKEN is a great film in the old school of 1970's film-making, Dark, good acting, wonderful cinematography, amazing soundtrack by The Brian Jonestown Experience.

Due for release on DVD November 20th (I think), so if you missed it in the theaters or at the many film festivals it screened at, then pick up the DVD. Heather Graham gives a great performance and the scene with her and Jessica Stroup are HOT! The nonlinear narrative is very cool, handled with mystery and atmosphere. Lots of questions are raised that if definitely gets you thinking about the film but also about your own decisions in life and the path these decisions have taken you on. There is Hope but there is also a Will. Nice work all around.

Drug addiction is a real downer anyway, so when you have a bad movie with a drug addiction theme, things couldn't be much worse. Throw in some really lame characters as diner customers, and things do indeed get worse. Everyone in this film is either a pompous ass, or a down and out loser. Not exactly a formula for entertainment. In addition, the movie jumps around with annoying flashbacks. When Jeremy Sisto finally pulls a gun on his ex., Heather Graham, I was hoping something would happen to move things forward. Unfortunately, it does not, with relief only coming when the screen finally goes dark, and the credits roll. Oh boy! Is this bad! - MERK

So I'm perusing the video store looking for an older movie since I wasn't interested in any of the new releases. As I pick up random DVD's to check their genre and read their tag line I picked up this movie. I see thriller and Heather Graham's name and think, "she's cool, let me read on." Then I read something that sealed the deal: "this movie is like "Identity"..." OK, now that's the ticket, I loved the movie "Identity" with John Cusack.

Umm.... I'm still trying to link the two movies together. This was nothing like "Identity" besides the ONE scene in which she saw different versions of herself. The movie was alright, a bit gritty, raw, and depressing, but not all that appealing. All I really got from the movie is: if you land a boyfriend that is addicted to drugs, LEAVE HIM!!!

I love watching Heather Graham in movies. Having said that, this movie was difficult to watch to the end. I have a hard time watching non-linear movies. Jumping back and forth into past, present, and future scenes is not only confusing but makes me lose interest. I shouldn't have to work this hard just to enjoy watching a movie. The drug use and self destruction is depressing. One of the main characters was a cigarette. It was always front and center. Sometimes I thought I was watching a cigarette ad instead of a movie. (Product placement, anyone?) With the drug addiction also comes violence towards women especially if she tries to escape. Anyone who has been in an abusive, controlling relationship will have PTSD again for sure. Halfway through, I had to get up and go do something random just to stomach the rest of the movie. Aside from the sudden contrived Hollywood ending, I felt like I had been trapped in a crack house for 90 minutes. Why Heather bothered with this script is beyond me. This may be reality for many people in the LA drug scene, but I watch movies for entertainment. Are you not entertained? I was not.

My brother and I watched the first 15 minutes of this movie and both decided it was boring and we were getting nothing out of the movie, yet we decided to give it a while longer to see if it got any better. 20 more minutes went by and still - nothing too interesting. The only relatively interesting scene was when Hope and her boyfriend hook up. Then about 5 minutes later she makes out with a girl on who's experiencing her first trip on ecstasy for about 5 more minutes. Then you basically find out after reading the reviews on here that the movie is not what you expected it to be. The back of the DVD package makes it sound like Hope is supposed to go crazy and have hallucinations and things of that nature, but it's really about drugs. She's battling an addiction of her boyfriend and her boyfriend's battling his own addiction with drugs. Overall, it's the biggest waste of time ever.