Not really recommended: "Broken English"

I stumbled across "Broken English" on cable tonight. Parker Posey caught my eye, as she usually does, and I paused on the station long enough to realize that this was the movie I saw her filming in the Village during my week of NYC in 2006.

The first half of the movie is intriguing. There is very little background music, which makes it feel still. The photography alternates between steady long shots and shaky close ups. Posey is well cast as a beautiful but quirky woman in New York who doesn't understand why she is alone, well into her thirties.

After several funny but disturbing failed relationships, she randomly meets a younger French man who is only in town for a few days. He is too good to be true, and after a few wonderful days of doing everything right, he heads home, asking her to follow him to Paris. She at first refuses, but then later throws caution to the wind and heads to France to find him.

Now, I know what you're thinking: this sounds all very unoriginal and chick-flickish. And maybe it does have some common elements with something that Meg Ryan would have done in the 90's. But this is different. The words are better, and the scenes are grittier. No perky here.

When she leaves for Paris, she only has Frenchy's cell phone number, which in real life would be more than enough. But this is where it all goes wrong. It's almost as if Posey leaves her great script and her director back in New York. From the moment her plane hits the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle, my eyes must have rolled a hundred times.

I recommend the movie only if you love Manhattan and love Parker Posey. Some of my favorite spots are featured in this film, including the park where I saw them filming, and the stoop in front of Joe The Art of Coffee on Waverly in the Village.

There is a cute ending, so it ain't bad for a movie on cable.

P.S. Parker Posey used to date one of my favorite musicians, Ryan Adams. Here is a fun interview that Posey did with Adams when they were together:

FindArticles - Ryan Adams: behind closed doors, one of music's most idiosyncratic heartbreakers gets intimate with his paramour, actress Parker Posey, opening up about finding his voice and getting his rock on - Interview