Broken English

Zoe Cassavetes successfully debuts a self-written narrative feature after testing directing waters with her impressive documentary "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession." Parker Posey plays lonely thirty-something Manhattan career chic Nora Wilder, whose upper class mother (Gena Rowlands) is pushing her to get married. Nora is not the best judge of character when it comes to men—she brags about her new relationship with a cheesy film actor (Justin Theroux) only to discover, via a TV interview, that he’s in love with his costar. Nora’s push-me-pull-me desperation hits a fever pitch after she enjoys an idyllic brief romance with a suave Frenchman who begs her to return to Paris with him. "Broken English" is a mature romantic comedy that shamelessly digs into a zeitgeist of American female neurosis. It’s the best thing Parker Posey has done in years, and more than makes up for her participation in Hal Hartley’s recent train wreck "Fay Grim."

Rated PG-13, 97 mins. (B-) (Three Stars)