This Movie Is Broken
Closed CaptioningBruce McDonald
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Plot Summary
Bruno wakes up in bed next to Caroline, his long time crush. But tomorrow she's off for school in France, and maybe she only granted this miracle as a parting gift for her long time friend. So tonight is Bruno's last chance. And tonight, as it happens, Broken Social Scene, her favorite band, is throwing a big outdoor bash. Maybe if Bruno, with the help of his best pal Blake, can score tickets and give Caroline a night to remember, he can keep this miracle alive.
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Customer Reviews
I Love Emily.
The story hangs like ornaments too few and far between on concert footage that shouldn’t be embellished to begin with; this “technique” of interlacing a barely existent story with BSS concerts, rather than enhancing coextensively, betrays both. Which is not to say I didn’t enjoy some songs, but it’s just so self-indulgent… “How can we make our music seem bigger? Lend more life to it? Create a world around our music, implicitly locating ourselves at the center?” It’s just a bit pretentious. Why? Because initially, I thought I would see an actual story that was intermittently punctuated by Canadian indie rock, instead: the exact opposite: Canadian indie rock intermittently punctuated by what should have been the substance of this movie. There’s just hardly anything to it, and yet they present it as a movie, and worse: a movie worth paying for. So as much as these musicians are talented, their movie is pointless, pretentious—just bad execution of an obvious premise. (Note: Their effort to coordinate lyrics with the “plot,” however, doesn’t go unnoticed, and the slight artistic merit of that resonance doesn’t go unappreciated.) The narration is delivered amateurishly by “Bruno,” an individual who is incapable of affecting sincerity—he reads his lines as if mimicking his idea of what sincerity should sound like, rather than what it should feel like: a shallow, untalented actor. The guy who plays his friend is decent though: unlike the lead, he doesn’t overact, exaggerate, nor think anyone is interested in his narcissism as much as he himself is.
WHAT IS WITH THE RANDOM HOMOSEXUALITY AT THE END? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? IT COMES OUT OF NOWHERE, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING, AND IS COMPLETELY UNFAITHFUL TO THE MINIMAL CHARACTERIZATION THAT WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT. Are you people FRENCH Canadian?(Just wondering.)
The mini-movie at the end that was supposed to explain “exactly” how the lead female felt was indicative of the problem with BSS in general: this idea that emotional ambiguity is art, that not knowing what to say or how to say it is the presentation of an artist: The mini-movie shows a bunch of non-specific imagery, all to which any sort of emotion could be attached. Clearly BSS fails to understand that subjectivity should be guarded against, not exploited, i.e., if you have something to say, don’t hide behind ambiguity as a defense; have the courage to process rigorously and formulate with specificity—make us understand what’s in your head (if it’s truly worth sharing)—don’t have us guessing at the words you’re trying to pronounce.
P.S. I liked watching Feist and Haines reify their bestfriendsforeverness on stage by never being more than 2 feet from one another. They’re lucky to be such good friends.
This Movie IS Broken--in the best possible way
This movie was beautiful and unexpected and wasn't created by Broken Social Scene as a previous reviewer had thought. I like how there is this story about love and friendship wrapped in and around real BSS footage. This film is heartfelt and kind of poetic, and you don't really know where the movie is going; it's kind of unpredictable--in a good way. If you just go along the ride and watch and absorb what's happening it makes for a better experience. If your the kind of person that likes to predict and know what's going to happen and how a movie is going to end before you watch it then it may not be for you. The characters felt like they had real personalities, both irritating and likable qualities. Great for BSS fans and people who don't know them alike. The live footage is fantastic. This movie sort of is broken--also in a good way. Like it's not your typical storyline where you have your major plot points and rounded off ending with all the loose ends tied. It's more like real life.
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