8 Films That Ended Too Soon

Broken Flowers sees Murray’s Don Johnston receiving an anonymous letter declaring that his time as a stud in his youth produced a son he never met.

The pacing of the film is a little unusual, but all the better for it, as Don visits four women he was previously involved with, to see where they ended up.

Unsuccessful in finding the truth, Don picks a random young man off the street to talk to, clearly now obsessed with finding the answer and looking for it anywhere. When he spooks the kid, Don finds himself standing lonesome in the middle of the road. A VW Beetle rolls past with a man hanging out the passenger window, played by Bill’s real life son Homer, before we cut to black.

And that’s where it leaves us, quite literally with Don standing at a crossroads.

As a Murray comedy-drama vehicle it’s almost certainly one of the most underrated, and watching the former playboy Don become obsessed with his search for his son is very endearing. That makes it all the sadder that it stops when things are feeling like they’re just getting towards the third act. For some films, the cliffhanger ending is necessary and makes you excited about mulling over the possibilities in your mind.

For Broken Flowers, it's a damp squib that blemishes an otherwise wonderful piece.