Broken People movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Broken People

This dramatic movie is now available to stream online.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 35 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: C-

IN A NUTSHELL:

The movie was directed and written by Travis Ketzak. He also did all of the cinematography and film editing himself, as well as served as Executive Producer. The movie has already won “Best Indie Feature Film from the Hollywood Gold Awards, New York Movie Awards, and Gothamite Monthly Film Awards.

The story is about Brett and Jake, who meet in a bar and decide to drown their sorrows in whisky, forgetting the past, ignoring the future, and exploring life, love, and tragedy together for one fateful night.

THINGS I LIKED:

I had never seen the two leading actors in anything before. Nicholas Scott plays Jake Barnes, a single man who is awaiting potentially bad news from his doctor. He gives us a very realistic, believable character. There’s a scene where he talks about his parents that he did in only one take.
Harley Jennings plays Brett Ashley. I love her beautiful hair. I could also picture her walking into a bar in real life.
Because I’m an author of 31 books, I’m always interested in movies that feature writers. There’s a scene early on where we see the male protagonist, Jake, sit at his computer with complete writer’s block. Yep, it’s a real thing! I always love seeing what inspires writers or even fictional characters in movies who write!
We hear a lot of cello music at the beginning and end of the film. They sandwich the film nicely, allowing you to instantly know the movie will be more serious and pensive in tone.
Travis Ketzak explained that a lot of the dialogue and the characters’ names are from Ernest Hemingway’s famous book The Sun Also Rises (https://amzn.to/3q0uM1l ) I remember reading that book in Spain right where he wrote it! He sure was a drinker, so I’m assuming the story is autobiographical. (You can watch my movie review below to hear me go off on a tangent about Ernest Hemingway’s polydactyl cats! ha ha)
Nice soundtrack.
The ending is very sweet and touching.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The acting isn’t very good. Harley’s eyes are pretty, but they kept darting to the side, which was distracting. It got better toward the end of the film, so maybe she was just super nervous about filming at the beginning. It could have been a tick she used to show the character was nervous…?
Many of the camera shots only show us the sides of the two characters’ faces while sitting or dancing in the bar. I wanted to learn more about the characters, so while the shots were artsy, they prevented us from seeing their expressions at the beginning of the movie when they first meet.
Sometimes, the camera lingers way too long on something.
There are some noticeably bad editing moments.
Some of the scenes are filmed at night with very little lighting, so watching the movie on a small device might prove difficult.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be extremely bored. So will some adults.
Some profanity, including many F-bombs.
Lots of alcohol and talk of various spirits.
A young woman smokes.
A young woman vomits because she drank so much alcohol.
A young woman steals alcohol from a bar.
Two people spend hours and hours drinking without eating any food to buffer the booze in their stomachs.
There are a lot of scenes with no dialogue, just shots of everyday life. Some people may find that boring.

THEMES:

Brokenness
Bar life
Reflection
Emotional trauma
Loneliness
Connection

INTERESTING LINES:

“The world’s ending. At least, that’s how it feels sometimes.” – Jake Barnes (Nicholas Scott)
“Thought I’d try the tortured artist at the bar for a while and see how that works.” – Jake Barnes (Nicholas Scott)
“Everyone has a story.” – Brett Ashley (Harley Jennings)
“Do you ever get the feeling that life’s passing by so fast that you never get a chance to live it?” – Brett Ashley (Harley Jennings)
“Dreaming is part of my process.” – Jake Barnes (Nicholas Scott)
“You know, we’re all broken in different places.” – Jake “And we’re supposed to grow from that brokenness, but…it really hurts sometimes.” – Brett (Harley Jennings)
‘You are enough.” – Jake Barnes (Nicholas Scott)
“A new day.” – Brett “Didn’t seem like it would ever come.” – Jake Barnes (Nicholas Scott)
“It’s hard to reflect in a loud bar, but when you’re three drinks deep and alone, that’s all you want to do.” – Jake Barnes (Nicholas Scott)