Cassavetes & Son Daughter

You remember John Cassavetes, right?



Well, you should. He played Guy Woodhouse in the best movie of all-time, Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby. He also directed a bunch of movies, too.

Anyway, his daughter, Zoe Cassavetes, directed a movie called Broken English which comes out on DVD this week.

Gothamist posted this review:

"Cassavetes delivered an intriguing character study wrapped inside a fluffy romantic comedy for her first feature film.

Long time indie muse Parker Posey stars as Nora, a woman getting deeper into her 30's and perennially single. Working as a celebrity concierge inside a high end boutique hotel, Nora look the part of self-assured career woman but she seems lost inside her own choices.

Her married best friend Audrey (Sopranos / animal-loving / vegan / clothing designer Drea de Matteo) and her well-meaning mother (played by Cassavetes' mom Gena Rowlands) want to help Nora and support her, but Nora still flits from one bad date (notably with Justin Theroux as a mohawked actor) and mini breakdown to another.

The best parts of Broken English are when it tries to be the anti-Sex and the City showing Nora going through real emotional and psychological crises, not just shopping for shoes. For New Yorkers who like to see less likely local haunts than the Empire State building tapped for romantic scenes, Cassavetes also picks out some gems like De Robertis Paticceria on First Avenue.

Eventually Nora seems to finally have found someone who sees past her quirks, the charismatic Julien (Melvil Poupaud), but his return to Paris could permanently end their affair. Some critics derided Cassavetes' coincidence-laden ending, but as a girl who's engaged to a Frenchman (musician Sebastien Chenut whose band, Scratch Massive, scored the film), maybe Cassavetes is just letting life be reflected in her art."

HOLLA!