I’ll let you know from the outset that, upon first viewing, this movie went straight to my Top 5 list. I can’t believe this film has been out for almost a year and I’ve only now just seen it. To make up for it, I’ve watched it six times in four days. It has all the elements for a good Riva-movie: overarching theme of loneliness, adorable protaganist, lovely leading man, New York City, Paris, awesome soundtrack. Obviously I identify with Nora (Parker Posey) since she is such a mirror to every person in the audience who’s every wanted to be loved and not found it, or found it, just maybe, only to let it walk away. Plus there’s something about her everyday life that is totally ubiquitous; she dresses up and gets out occasionally, but her efforts are both half-hearted and sadly self-conscious. Posey is brilliant, everyone already knows this. But it’s Julien (Melvil Poupaud) who I’ve fallen completely head-over-heels for! He reminds me of someone I used to know. A boyfriend, I think, but I can’t place which one. There’s just something so familiar about him. About the way he moves. About the way he talks and the way he kisses. Even his whiskery face seems like something I recognize from a long time ago. Julien is captivating. Both he and Nora exactly match the haunting Scratch Massive melodies to a tee. Written and directed by Zoe Cassavetes, Broken English is funny but the humor here is real, genuine, everyday funnyness; a Frenchman mispronouncing a word (“I ‘ope you find ‘appiness”...”a penis?”...”yes!”) or Nora and her friend Audrey’s conversations over glasses of wine, yoga, and manicures. While there are bright moments there is dark here as well. Nora’s struggle with her anxiety is sad to watch, hard to understand if you have never experienced a panic attack, and heart-wrenching if you have. Finally, the last scene is gripping. And perfect.

5 hearts out of 5 (and by ‘hearts’ i mean ‘loves’):