Critical response Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars and wrote, "There are some good ideas, strong moments and a blue-chip cast in
Broken […]. But they somehow don't come together successfully in this drama of dysfunction and pain, which too often looks strained, desperately self-conscious and replete with unconvincing and unearned emotional crises." David Rooney of
The Hollywood Reporter stated, "Overburdened as it is by narrative clutter and climactic melodrama,
Broken is always emotionally engaging, never more so than when Laurence is at the center of a scene. She has a sweet, natural screen presence, quirky without being cute. The entire ensemble is solid, with the terrific Kinnear making an especially vivid impression as the neighbor from hell." Fabien Lemercier of
Cineuropa commented, "
Broken reveals itself as a highly precise clockwork, endowed with an irresistible charm, thanks in part to a charismatic young actress (Eloise Laurence) and outstanding work on editing and music." Charles Gant of
Variety opined, "Melding heightened drama with quirky, state-of-the-nation social realism, the pic aims to undercut epic plot contrivance with naturalistic perfs and a lyrical shooting style."
Stephen Holden of
The New York Times called the film "fine but unnecessarily convoluted" and wrote, "At a certain point, Mr. Norris forsakes realism for theatricalized fantasy, and
Broken ultimately loses its stylistic cohesion, if not its humanity." Mark Olsen of the
Los Angeles Times remarked, "Solidly done if somewhat unremarkable, there is nothing particularly wrong with
Broken, nothing that needs fixing exactly, and yet it never fully comes together." Kevin Jagernauth of
IndieWire commented, "If there's any silver lining to
Broken, it's the performance of Laurence, who shines and delivers both laughs and heartache in the film. […] As for the rest of the cast, they are mostly wasted in one-dimensional roles that don't provide much growth.
Broken simply can't get it together on any level, delivering a tedious drama, that for all the characters and over-emoting, doesn't have much to say." Ben Kenigsberg of
RogerEbert.com gave the film two and a half out of four stars and described it as "an absorbing coming-of-age drama that suddenly, pointlessly self-destructs with an onslaught of cheap ironies and overkill." Kenigsberg also stated, "Imagine
To Kill a Mockingbird with multiple trumped-up medical emergencies and a cynically manipulative finale, and you might have a sense of how Norris's film plays by the end: broken, smashed, destroyed."
Accolades ==See also==