Broken (I) (2006) User Reviews

"Identity" this was not

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 14 June 2008]

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!!!

Its a script my theater teacher would've written

[P3charmed · 4/10 · 28 November 2008]

This film starts off OK. It has heather graham in it, so I wasn't expecting much besides nasty sex scenes and bulging eyes (of which you get both in this film). The fact that she is supposed to be some folksy singer-songwriter is laughable because I've met this character time and time again in the downtown art scene.

All of the dialogue, starting with Jeremy Sisto's entrance is laughable and obviously written by a man. If written by a woman, Hope (heather graham) would've reached for her pepper spray after Will's (Jeremy Sisto) initial pick up line.

The movie goes no where fast, has a small up lift with the black box theatre style of the dinner, then continues on a downward spiral. The cast is amazing, and I'm surprised that so many somewhat respectable actors would sign to such boring banal work.

The special features are a laugh and a half as more praise over Graham's beauty and perfection for the part is expressed. The producer says producer-like things like "many other actresses wanted this part but Heather was just perfect". Way to make it sound like Angelina, Charlize, and Drew all wanted to be part of this ishfest.

I'm glad I bought this for 3 dollars on Thanksgiving. I'll be thanks-giving this away on Ebay tomorrow.

There are so many other problems with this film including editing, music, and character development but the other REAL comments speak for themselves.

Jeremy Sisto...what happened?

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

[charlytully · 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!

"Dont waste you time" doesn't even explain this

[courtneyleigh83 · 1/10 · 1 December 2007]

This is among the top three most terrible films I have ever witnessed. I kept waiting for it to have some kind of theme or point. There is absolutely none. Its not even worth my typing these words except for the idea that I might spare someone the curiosity. Don't be fooled, this movie doesn't have anything to do with the synopsis on the back. There's no manifestation of "the seven deadly sins", there is nothing remotely interesting in this movie. It never wraps itself up into a remotely understandable, sensible package. Its just drug use after abusive situation after drug use all twisted up in a largely boring cafe. Unless you're looking to see Heather Graham at her worst, don't see it.

Trapped in the Purgatory of the Broken Dreams

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 19 May 2008]

The aspirant singer Hope (Heather Graham) leaves Cleveland to Los Angeles expecting to succeed in the career of rock-and-roll singer. She meets the funny Will (Jeremy Sisto) on the beach and they fall in love for each other. However, Will addicts Hope in heroin, destroying her dreams. Later, Hope escapes from Will, trying to put her life back on the trails and working as waitress in the Blue Star Café. However, one night she is caught by Will that wants her back with him to his life.

"Broken" is an original drama about lost dreams, where the non-linear plot is actually a bad trip of the lead character Hope. She is trapped in this café as if it were the purgatory of her broken dreams, reluctant to return to Cleveland as a loser that she is, while the clients are the possibilities or frustrations she had had along her life. The metaphor of the bright and dark lightning gives a good hint about the brilliant and vivid dreams she had or the dark nightmares of the world of the drugs of Hope. The performances of Heather Graham and Jeremy Sisto are awesome. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Oh Boy ! Is this bad !

[merklekranz · 2/10 · 21 July 2011]

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

graham and sis-to are great!

[tommy61986-1 · 7/10 · 23 May 2008]

never heard of this movie until i rent it on a local video place..not much a fan of heather graham,after seeing her performance in this movie,i wanted to see more and more of her...she stood up for what is right for her life and many actress now are not as good in performance in any movies..i love the scene between graham and sis-to ("jesus")and the movie carry a good message..no matter what the critics or the back of the box says...the pairs do work!!.the diner scene remind me of another great movie "crash"..graham is very sexy even as girl with problems in many of her dramatic scene..i love it and recommend it for a midnight snack or see it with friends..

Huge waste of time

[dooberdoober · 1/10 · 21 November 2007]

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.

Hope and Will in the land of Addiction

[BloedEnMelk · 7/10 · 10 March 2011]

As soon as the main characters are introduced, their names give away a big hint about how this movie is constructed. This movie is about a woman called HOPE and her lover WILL. And about heroin addiction. 'Broken' is more or less a metaphorical reconstruction about the shattered hopes of a young woman, and her struggle with failure. Leaving home with the dreams of being a sing-a-song writer in LA, but soon finding out that this leads to basically nothing, she starts a path of self destruction.

We see her working as a waitress, in a small restaurant where she meets all kinds of people. In between those scenes we see how she meets this charming guy Will, and how her romance with Will develops into a lot of misery. Will is obsessed by her, but he is the personification of emptiness. He needs her and after she breaks up with him, he desperately tries to get a grip on her again.

At first this movie seems one-layered. It's a bit confusing in the beginning, as you soon find out that the parts of her relationship are not in the same time frame as what happens in the restaurant. Is she having flashbacks? Did she recover from her addiction to drugs? Towards the end of the movie it is slowly been made more clear that basically the people she meets in the restaurant are either a part of her, or show bits of her past. This gives the movie much more depth and it's an interesting concept. In my opinion it could have been worked out a bit better, but still it is pretty well done.

I don't know if my interpretation is right, but how I see it is that Hope is actually the part of her that still has HOPE to escape from her misery. She desperately tries to get a grip on her life, and struggles with the need to fulfill her need for creativity and being valued for her talents, or the acceptance of being nothing more than a waitress. Will symbolizes her addiction, and basically the things that she WILL do in reality. The addiction also WILL get back to her to do everything in his power to seduce her again.

I will not spoil more. It's an interesting metaphorical movie. If you are not into that, watch something else as you might find it quite boring. But if you do like double layered movies and you can stand a pretty slow pace, it's really worth to watch it. It could have been more, and I actually think this movie would do better as a stage play, but it sure could have been less.

Bad Editing Or Just Plain Broken Script?

[MovieBuff-fest · 2/10 · 22 February 2019]

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.

Doesn't anyone get it? Will IS the heroin addiction...

[lousilberling · 8/10 · 27 November 2008]

I haven't seen anyone else comment on this point, so here goes. Will (Jeremy Sisto), who plays Hope's (Heather Graham) "boyfriend" in the film, IS THE HEROIN. His character is a metaphor for the heroin addiction. He doesn't actually exist. It's the heroin that makes Hope do all the terrible things she does -- Will is like an embodied spirit of heroin, if you will -- and the heroin that almost kills her (like Will with the gun -- the gun is the needle...). She almost kills herself OD'ing at the end, but it's really her "shooting Will with the gun" that in the end, saves her -- because she is killing the addiction by almost killing herself (and the short-order cook helps her out.) Great film. Watch it for the clever metaphor, not as a literal tale.

I'd rather become a heroin addict than see this movie again

[jmleblan · 1/10 · 24 July 2008]

Don't waste your time with this movie. Heather Graham's performance as a singer/songwriter turned heroin addict is awful. For most of the movie, I couldn't tell whether she was still an addict or not, which I'd attribute to Heather's terrible acting and possibly some poor editing. The storyline is non-linear, which when done properly can be really interesting, but when done poorly (as in this movie) is very confusing and distracting. Jeremy Sisto was fantastic, but unfortunately didn't make up for all of the film's flaws. It's hard to say more without giving away any spoilers, but take it from a fan of drug movies, don't waste your time. An hour and a half of my life that I will never get back...

An Indie with a Feature Cast and Production

[thebenmalibu · 8/10 · 8 November 2007]

The Yellow Brick Road of Broken Dreams Is Broken a Nightmare, or a Place?

Broken is Dorothy's trip retold, with LA as Oz, as seen from Mulholland Drive. From the clean shining sea light of Zuma Beach, to the superficial artificial light of Skid Row dives and midnight diners, Broken follows the arc of a young woman from the Midwest who follows her dreams to Los Angeles, and almost lets her nightmares do her in.

Heather Graham is Hope, a young woman who doesn't think that Cleveland rocks, and goes west with her guitar in hand and a song in her heart called Hanging Tree. The sea light of California lights Hope up brown and golden, she looks beautiful and happy lying on the beach at Zuma, when she is approached by a stranger (Jeremy Sisto) who approaches her as if he walked out of the glare of a setting sun,. He asks for a cigarette, but Hope doesn't have any, she has quit, so he pulls two from his pocket and offers her one. The guy says his name is Will, and this gesture of his is more than a pickup tactic, it is a clue as to who Will really is, a clue that only makes sense at the end of the movie.

The yellow brick road that millions have followed to Los Angeles is lined with permanent detours and dead ends, and Will takes Hope by the hand and leads her away from the golden, dreamy light at the beach and down one of those bad paths, the path of heroin addiction which plunges Hope into a world of bad light, artificial light, the light of tunnels leading to hell, of dingy apartments with the light blocked by foil, to the light of a butane lighter, bubbling heroin in a spoon. The heroin that is slowly taking the light out of Hopes eyes and out of her dreams.

Broken moves backward and forward and sideways through time, but the real time of the movie takes place after midnight in a café where Hope scratches out a living as a waitress. This is the Blue Star Café in the movie, but those who know Los Angeles will recognize it as the Hellay Café, because the patrons that Hope waits on are everyone you don't want to become in Los Angeles: Jake Busey and Joe Hursley are sadly funny as two heroin-addicted losers who can't score smack or women at 2:00 in the morning. Jessica Stroup is beautifully sad as an Xd out Valley chick stuck behind two guys she doesn't like, and looking for salvation from Hope. Linda Hamilton is evil sad as a madame who plays on Hopes weaknesses and tries to lure her even deeper with promises of big money. Hope has already prostituted herself physically and mentally, for drugs, for Will.

Tess Harper is just sad as a homeless woman who seems to be able to read Hope's mind – and a reflection of what Hope will soon become if she continues with Will.

The other patrons are a wannabe producer and director – younger and older versions of the endless train of BSing hopefuls that pass through Los Angeles. There is a wannabe record producer luring three wannabe rock stars with promises of meeting "the most powerful man in Hollywood" at two in the morning.

The Blue Star Café could also be called the Wannabe Café, as it is a purgatory between the heaven of all that Los Angeles promises and the hell of broken dreams. Hope is trapped in this purgatory, at two in the morning. She is flashing back on her relationship with Will, a relationship that is more sex and drugs than rock and roll, a relationship that is stealing Hope's youth and beauty, and her dreams and self respect.

Hope is done with the relationship, but not Will. The homeless woman warns Hope that Will will be back, he will always come back. As Hope waits on the various sad cases in the Hellay Café, the clock is ticking as Will pulls his gun and steals cars and makes his way to confront the woman who has spurned him.

There is a weird tension in the Wannabe Café when Will busts in with a gun, threatening everyone. A lot of these people need killing – they would be better off dead – but Will ends up shooting the saddest and most innocent of them all. Jeremy Sisto plays a believable psycho, a common type around LA: the guy who can't make it, and takes it out on everyone around him.

Hope takes all of Will's wrath on herself, and faces her moment of truth, making a decision and with a loud bang forces the viewers to make up their minds about Broken: Is Will an addict, or is he Addiction? Is he a person, or a symbol? Did all of this happen, or was it all a heroin nightmare that took place as Hope nodded on a bathroom floor.

Is this whole movie reality, or is it, in the words of Dorothy: A dream, or a place?

Great Film

[ersm · 8/10 · 7 November 2007]

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.

A smart and unique film that has something to say!

[PeachHamBeach · 10/10 · 15 November 2007]

I watched BROKEN last night after a long hard day at work. I figured I wouldn't have the energy to understand it, or I would be in an entirely wrong mood to enjoy it.

I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Sisto and a longtime admirer of Heather Graham. Ever since I first heard about BROKEN, I've wanted to see it. There was just something about it. There IS just something about it. I knew instinctively that I would either love it or hate it, not depending on the story, but how the story was carried out, executed, you know what I mean. If a story of this nature is carried out by a bad team of filmmakers, it could easily end up a gratuitous, offensive piece of garbage or a watered down, soapy melodrama.

I LOVED it. BROKEN is a story with a very clear message. Unfortunately, I see many critics and filmgoers have failed to get that message. There is no moralistic preaching. The filmmakers and writers were far more creative than that. Sappy TV movies of past and present like to mollycoddle viewers and talk down to us like we're children, wanting us to care about issues like drug addiction, yet giving us vapid, stereotyped characters who are dealing with addiction, all while censoring the awful effects of what "wrong" and "sin" can do to human beings. BROKEN tones nothing down. If you are disturbed by the kind of raw grit found in films like TRAINSPOTTING and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, you might consider avoiding BROKEN.

If you are familiar with their work, you know that Graham and Sisto are actors who have shied away from nothing in their careers. Both of them get far less respect and recognition for their courage, not to mention their CHOICES, than they deserve. Obviously, they are continuing to choose projects that they believe in, no matter how "small", giving 110% of their individual gifts to it, and hoping that at least a few filmgoers will have the perception to absorb the message being conveyed.

Though, as stated before, there is no preaching in BROKEN, the message being sent is clear, ageless, powerful, quite biblical in scope, comparable as well to the fables of Aesop and the ancient myths of Greece. Their names are HOPE and WILL, but they are also known at first as INNOCENCE and INSPIRATION. INNOCENCE comes to the big city to follow her lifelong dream of being a musician, HOPE-ing that her talent WILL be recognized. She crosses paths with a man who becomes her INSPIRATION, and the two fall deeply and sincerely in love.

INNOCENCE and INSPIRATION all too soon give way to DISCONTENT and SEDUCTION, as Hope finds that the path to stardom is a lot steeper than she imagined. Her beauty and talent are getting her nowhere in a city where beauty and talent seem to be a dime a dozen. At this time, Will offers Hope the only solution he knows to combat sadness and DISCONTENT: He SEDUCES her with the escape of heroin.

For a while, Hope is eager to indulge, prefering to drift off into a zone where she doesn't have to feel the effects of the rejection of her dream. It's obvious she doesn't see that Will is someone who will not help her, but rather harm her, because he has no dreams of his own, no desire for success or a productive life or anything other than to live in a drugged stupor. To see Will wanting nothing but this is a profoundly sad thing. It made me want to know more about his past, what made him feel like his life was so meaningless? What made him hate himself so much that he could care less if the next shot might kill him?

But this is Hope's story. At first I didn't like the idea that the story was focused solely on Hope while Will was one of many side characters. But if you pay attention to the story and its purpose, you will understand. Will, along with the many characters in the diner who interact with Hope, are representations of her long struggle, her INNOCENCE, her INSPIRATION, her DISCONTENT and her SEDUCTION from light into darkness. Her stillborn dream, her ignored talent and beauty in a city wrought with ruthless competition for fame and fortune; her WILL-ful decision to either make her dream come true or waste her life being strung out on drugs and prostituting herself, reducing her life worth, degrading her value, for the next temporary high; and finally her abrupt realization that her life does have meaning, and her life can touch the lives of others, if she doesn't squander it, no matter who she ends up being, no matter whether she is famous or anonymous, her renewed sense of strengh, purpose, and of course HOPE.

Graham and Sisto both give beautifully emotional performances, and are joined by a wonderful ensemble which includes Jake Busey, Linda Hamilton, Valerie Azlynn, Michael Goorjian, Mark Shepard, Tess Harper, Bianca Lawson, Joe Hursley, Randall Batinkoff and the amazingly pretty Jessica Stroup who stands out as a heartbreakingly young girl who is enjoying her first ecstasy high, but perceptive enough to realize that she is being preyed upon in much the same way Hope has been.

The music by the Brian Jonestown Massacre is fitting to the film's dark tone and the "Hanging Tree" song, performed in the film by Graham, is haunting and gorgeous.

I recommend this film highly to anyone who has the sense to watch it with eyes wide open. I feel very satisfied, yet there are elements I do not yet understand fully. So I will be "chewing" on this great film for a time to come.

I'll give it an A+.

Give it a rest

[scott38611 · 8/10 · 25 March 2009]

Obviously some viewers have a personal vendetta about this film. It wont be for everyone but it definitely can be appreciated. Its better than 90% of the garbage we watch today. For those that said this movie has no point, or its boring and has no topic would be wrong. You should try just watching a film with an open mind rather than hating on it from the opening credits. This movie is what you make it and its not supposed to be black & white answers. If you had a brain you would understand this film very easily. Most of the characters are just simply symbols for something greater. Whether they exist or not is irrelevant because after all this is why we sit down in front of the TV in the first place, to watch something that isn't real! I think some people tend to forget that.

Sad and sobering portrait of a gal who loses her way

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 31 May 2022]

Eager young lass Hope (a fine and appealing portrayal by Heather Graham) leaves Cleveland, Ohio to go to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career as a musician. Hope's big plans go astray after she runs afoul of charismatic, but manipulative heroin addict Will (well played with considerable scruffy charm by Jeremy Sisto).

Director Alan White relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, maintains a sincere serious tone throughout, and astutely captures the raw desperation of down and out people. Drew Pillsbury's smart and observant script not only presents a colorful array of vividly drawn symbolic characters, but also offers a powerful and provocative central metaphor on the damage wrought by drug addiction.

The excellent acting from the tip-top cast rates as another significant asset: Tess Harper as haggard homeless lady Clare, Jake Busey as the smooth-talking Vince, Joe Hursley as Vince's scraggly buddy Bob, Linda Hamilton as brash flesh peddler Karen, Randall Batinkoff as smarmy producer Cliff, Michael A. Goorjian as amiable dishwasher Thomas, and Jessica Stroup as the foxy and stoned Sara. A neat little movie.