Broken English

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Broken English

PG-13

2007

1h 37m

Comedy

Drama

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

66%

Tomatometer

71 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Nora Wilder (Parker Posey), a single woman, is heading deep into the doldrums as a result of disappointments in her professional and personal lives. A series of disastrous dates convinces her that love will always elude her. At a co-worker's party, she meets Julien (Melvil Poupaud), a young man from Paris, who sweeps her off her feet and invites her to France with him. Nora refuses, then wonders if she has made the biggest mistake of her life.

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Critics Consensus

Though Broken English eventually settles into basic rom-com territory, it's pleasant and good-natured, and Parker Posey is spellbinding throughout the movie.

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Hanna Flint

Time Out

Mar 11, 2026

4/5

Broken English is a musical portrait that is keenly aware of its own artifice, with Pollard and Forsyth showing the seams of creation so that the truth of who Faithfull was and her diverse legacy can resonate with audiences now that she is gone.

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Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Jan 3, 2008

How Posey's neurotic, self-destructive heroine finds her way to healing is the core of this generous film, whose moral is that happiness can't begin unless you're open to its possibility.

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Peter Debruge

Miami Herald

Jul 27, 2007

3.5/4

Filmmaking is a family affair for the Cassavetes, and Zoe inherits the unpretentious, performance-driven style from her father, John, while delivering a love story that's accessible enough for mainstream audiences, a trick learned from her brother Nick.

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Jenny Peters

Hollywood.com

Nov 20, 2008

4/5

Heather Huntington

ReelzChannel.com

Aug 22, 2008

8/10

Broken English surprised me all around: I didn't expect to be particularly impressed with it, and instead it turns out to be not only one of my favorite films I've see this year, but it will probably earn a spot in the all-time annals for me.

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Brandon Judell

New York Theatre Wire

Nov 22, 2007

Posey's admirers will experience a sensual intoxication that fans always experience when their film goddesses are at their very best.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 7, 2026

Broken English = a *3* star movie

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Joseph W

@Joebox5116 Apr 1, 2026

Well written and acted. Parker Posey is an outstanding vastly underated actress. She carries the entire film. Zoe Cassevetes clearly influenced by her father John. Undertsands the power of closeup of actor of the calibre of Parker Posey. Nice to see Gena Rowlands and Peter Bogdonovitch again.

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Kalissa H.

@kali_416 Nov 3, 2025

I really enjoyed it.

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Alain E

@AlainE Oct 4, 2025

Overall uneven and uncertain which way to go, similar to the heroine. I can’t say that I gained any insight about how to conduct my life, if I suddenly found a time machine and got transported back to my twenties. Maybe the lesson is to use public transportation, so you can meet people that you misplaced their phone number. Lightning a candle in a Catholic church was also probably helpful.

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babarizam D

@RT59932316 May 28, 2025

Its a beautiful film.

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kevenquinlan T

@RT75276071 Apr 27, 2025

Ok, This is a good movie and worth keeping in your collection. There were so many elements to Nora that I saw in myself, it was nice to know what you are isn't the only thing when it often seems so. She was conflicted though which was irritating, her fawning over Guy when she bumped into him while with Julien was SO something that happens, she acted like Julien wasn't even there and it enraged me, haha. She did to him in that scene what other men had done to her, which was a turnoff to liking her, for me. She redeemed herself though through the course of the movie and the ending it awesome. Great story and well acted and it's nice to have a relationship movie that feels 'Normal' and not contrived or a bunch of random tropes smashed together.

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Zoe R. Cassavetes

Director

Parker Posey

Nora Wilder

Melvil Poupaud

Julien

Drea de Matteo

Audrey Andrews

Gena Rowlands

Vivien Wilder-Mann

Tim Guinee

Mark Andrews

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Synopsis

Nora Wilder (Parker Posey), a single woman, is heading deep into the doldrums as a result of disappointments in her professional and personal lives. A series of disastrous dates convinces her that love will always elude her. At a co-worker's party, she meets Julien (Melvil Poupaud), a young man from Paris, who sweeps her off her feet and invites her to France with him. Nora refuses, then wonders if she has made the biggest mistake of her life.

Director: Zoe R. Cassavetes
Producer: Andrew Fierberg, Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente
Screenwriter: Zoe R. Cassavetes
Production Co: Vox3 Films, Backup Media, HDNet Films, Phantom Film
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sexual Content|Language|Brief Drug Use)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 22, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $955.6K
Runtime: 1h 37m

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