Broken English

A New York career woman (Parker Posey) slogs away at her job in a midtown hotel, feeling the strain of a dysfunctional love life and chronic poor choices and bad luck with men. Writer-director Zoe Cassavetes (daughter of maverick filmmaker John) offers her film as a sort of downscale twist on Sex and the City—deglamorized and divested of the high-spirited wit and erotic irony. Cassavetes has inherited her father’s knack for detail and the tiny tics of character seemingly caught on the fly, but the film shambles along, steeped in sour naturalism, and neither the story nor the well-acted characters quite engage our interest or sympathy. The tony supporting cast includes Drea de Matteo as Posey’s best friend, Gena Rowlands and Peter Bogdanovich as her parents, and Melvil Poupaud as an amorous Frenchman.