MovieChat Forums > Broken English (2008) Discussion > The Huge Plot Hole (spoiler)

The Huge Plot Hole (spoiler)

posted 15 years ago by scottlummer
23 replies | jump to latest

So you're planning a trip to Paris with the sole purpose of seeing the one person with whom you have been able to sustain a relationship (if only for a few days). You don't call ahead -- just to make sure he is still there? And when you lose the number, you don't call your former co-worker who likely has his number (or at least his parents number)? Oh, it doesn't matter, cause you are definitely going to run into him at random on a subway - a common event in a city with over 2 million people. There are more likely plots in most sci-fi films. I agree the acting is good, and the soundtrack is great, but for a film trying to put a realistic spin on relationships, the last third of the movie isn't working.

[–] rtol01 15 years ago

she said that she called Glen, her coworker who introduced them, but she couldn't reach him

Heart attack or testicular cancer?

Well if I had a heart attack I keep my heart

[–] gonzo-81 15 years ago

Still though... Call again later...

[–] mb935 15 years ago

I agree.

The ending made a so-so film just awful. To me it seemed like she wasnt sure if it was him or not on the train and I started thinking that it would be great if she decides to not even check and goes home instead. OR another option - she walks over and it isnt him.

But no - it was in fact him and i was highly annoyed. :)

[–] foiler420 15 years ago

I absolutely agree!! Aargh, a very annoying and obviously contrived ending. One thing that annoyed me even more was that once it did turn out to be him (ooh, shocking, what a coincidence) there was no physical contact. Come on! This is France. You kiss on the cheeks, you grasp a hand, something to cross the spatial boundary. Awkward and horrid ending to a film that seemed to have a more realistic edge. I am disappointed.

"Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."

[–] katemian 15 years ago

Yeah, i thought the same while watching.. But then i thought twice. Probably she wanted to surptise him, something like "Hi, are you free for a drink? I'm in Paris." It's something I would do. Then she lost his number (perhaps she lost it on purpose on a subconscious level because she was scared to meet him.. but let's not go so deep) and called her colleague (a little irritating she could not reach him.. but *beep* happens). Then the coincidential encounter on the subway.. It's so realistic actually, that it's scary.. Haven't such things happened to you ever?? It's seems odd to me that you find that moment of the plot a drawback. Besides, it was beautifully played -- the moment she saw him, i could almost hear her heart pounding in supressed disbelief.. then his reaction (the man was startled.. it's normal he didn't jump up to kiss her and seemed overly distant..). I think this movie came as close to reality as a movie possibly can. But we all know real life is much more extraordinary. ;)

[–] Entirelysmooth 15 years ago

Fate was a large piece of the movie.
Julien first sees Nora at the hotel when she's talking to Nick Gable. He's just a character in the background talking to the man at the desk. He glances at Nora for a second (checking her out) and then leaves to his room.
http://i39.tinypic.com/16nr6g.jpg

Then they officially meet at Glen's party. Nora was on her way out as Julien was just arriving. He says to her "I'm glad you're here. If it had been one minute later we would have missed each other. It's fate to see you again. Don't you think?"

Then when she's in Paris. I think she went to Paris to surprise him. Maybe she was originally planning to call him up and say "I'm here in Paris. Let's meet at ____" but then she realizes she lost his number. She called Glen but she said she couldn't get a hold of him. Realistically -if I was her- I would have called Glenn repeatedly until he answered and asked for his number.
So in a way she put it in the hands of fate. Walk around Paris, possibly hoping to bump into him (but at the same time focusing on herself. Relaxing. Going shopping and seeing art galleries, receiving advice from random people etc )
She was ready to give up and go back home. bought a plane ticket, and got on the subway to go to the airport. There was probably a one in a million chance (or even less) that she and Julien would be on that subway at that exact moment.

but the chances of that were probably equally slim as meeting Nora at Glen's party. Look at it from Julien's point of view. He saw this beautiful girl at a hotel and probably thought he would never see her again. He definitely didn't expect to see her at Glen's party. He believes it was fate that brought them together. Nora doesn't seem like the type who believes in fate/destiny but finding him on that subway probably changed her mind.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Felonious-Punk 13 years ago

@ Entirelysmooth:

That's a great answer that makes me want to watch the movie again. Also she goes to a psychic who knows about her feelings for her dad. And she happens to catch Nick's interview on tv. Julien and Nora happen to meet on the front steps of her place. It's all about trusting fate.

As far as the last scene, I don't think it would be a good idea if Nora would have seen the back of Julien's head and not checked. That would be for someone who wasn't as hungry for love as she is. But Nora has a nice heart and is young. Good for her that she checked. And thank goodness it was him.

The closest movies to my heart: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=46910443

[–] pinkfloyd70 12 years ago

I just re-watched the scene where Julien sees Nora at the hotel. He does a double-take. I never noticed that before as I was so focused on the interaction between Nora and Nick. The double-take was adorable.

[–] rasajike 15 years ago

Yeah, that was annoying.

And even if you can't get the friend on the phone, I'm quite sure she has Glen's email address.

[–] bootanner 15 years ago

Glen had a crush on Nora. At the party he looks mad that she is into Julian and not him. If he's really that emotionally invested in her, maybe he cut off communication with her. Or he ignores her request for his number out of spite. Then when she gets back to NYC he can make his move.

If Nora really wanted to get his number she probably could have. I think she was also scared that after many failures with men, julian might reject her. So she passively hopes to bump into him. Out of fear of getting hurt again she convinces herself that at least she tried. But we all know she didn't try that hard.

I think after talking to the gypsy lady she might believe more in fate.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] leojbramble 14 years ago

Yeah, haven't even finished watching it on Netflix yet, but had to come over and see who else thought it absolutely ridiculous that she wouldn't have been able to contact the co-worker, and that Julian wouldn't have given him his email address in the first place. If she wanted to surprise him, all she'd have to do is send him an email asking for his address, claiming that she wanted to be able to send him an old-fashioned letter, or some such romantic nonsense. :-) Cavernous plot hole.

Now I can't wait to see this silly ending I've spoiled for myself by reading this thread... :-)

[–] nyranda 14 years ago

Can all the people who are talking about email step outside their bubble for one second? I mean I know that's how some people stay in contact with each other being the 21st century and all but not everyone is tech savvy and even those who are may not make technology a cornerstone of their life. I agree with the person who said that Glen seemed like he was into Nora. He also seemed kinda into Audrey too but I'm not judging.

"Kindness is Timeless." - Sergio Mendes ft. India

[–] eyesopen0791 14 years ago

Lol, I think the opposite is the bubble. What I mean is that the people out there who insist on not or who aren't using email regularly are the ones in a bubble, not people who are using email regularly.

Millions of people know and use email regularly. Not 10 million, somewhere past 100 million. I just recalled that it was the background for the 1990s Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie, You've Got Email. So Broken English was like made around 2005? I'm not going to look up that info to get all uppity with this argument.

Fact, word, I would say that almost all of young people, people between ages 15-29 know and are using email. People between ages 15-29 that were those ages and were using email as shown in movies from the 90s and 2000s who are older now aren't going to drop email now that they're older. If anything, they've progressed to newer forms of communication. Email is fine, but IM or Instant Messaging is better. How many people who have a cell phone now aren't aware of texting and do text? I would say at least 50% of people who have a cell phone text. I'm mumble mumble past age 35 and I text. A lot. Regularly throughout the day to my husband.

So yeah, all this adds to the fact that Nora was an all around dumb girl. She does less sensible actions than a goat would. I would NEVER go off spending thousands of dollars to France, hoping to run into a guy I like, and try try as hard as I might to bother doing as much legwork as I can to follow up on the guy that last had the other guy's contact information in France. Yeah, right! I'm blowing thousands of dollars of my own money to hope for that 1 in 1 million or 5 million or 10 million chance I'll come across that guy on the subway!! It's 1000% beyond implausible romantic fantasy movie la land, you can take it and disconnect the reality button in your head and enjoy the movie for what it's worth.

I did enjoy this movie, despite knowing full well it was a pile of outrageous romantic fantasy sh** that would never ever possibly happen at all in real life.

[–] nyranda 14 years ago

You know millions of people? Well good on you. The amount of people using the internet was not in question for me. I don't know a million people and the people I do know, half are technophiles who must have that contact with people through technology - and when I say technology I primarily mean internet usage - or research things they'd like, or just enjoy coding and gadgets and whatnot. The other half are people who use it when they must for work or bills because they're busy with other aspects of their life that they don't need the internet for. Btw, you are being uppity in quoting a movie from 10 years ago. Should we have wondered why Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy's characters didn't keep in touch by email in 1995's Before Sunrise? A date a movie is produced is arbitary to your argument.

Regardless your argument is that "People between ages 15-29 that were those ages and were using email as shown in movies". I'm pretty sure the movies don't always go out of their way to realistically portray real life. Another argument I'd like to make is that you should consider the fact that in order to use email or text you need access to a computer or a cell phone. Not everyone in the world has the opportunity or the means to have one.

I'm not trying to take away from your experience, prove it invalid or say that you are not the norm. I'm just saying that the norm is not always the majority. There are too many experiences and lives to disregard a perception and I'm just trying to relay a different form of that.

"So yeah, all this adds to the fact that Nora was an all around dumb girl." I disagree but regardless, movies are not just made about smart people.
"She does less sensible actions than a goat would. I would NEVER go off spending thousands of dollars to France."
My understanding was the trip was paid for by her friend since she was helping her conduct some business and regardless of that Nora came from a pretty well-off family. Though please note, I find it funny that you only want to see movies about people who are like yourself.

I'm just saying everyone is not like you. And that's a good thing. I don't mean that in a snarky way but a perky, hopeful way.

"Kindness is Timeless." - Sergio Mendes ft. India

[–] Screenwriter_Brandi 14 years ago

This so much.

[–] nyranda 13 years ago

Yup.

"Kindness is Timeless." - Sergio Mendes ft. India

[–] megan-262 13 years ago

When she first got there she was looking for him - but then she kind of said to hell with it and decided to just enjoy her time there. She was hoping to see him I think - relying on fate - but then I think she stayed alone because she wanted to try just being alone and not relying on anyone else. I think she needed that for herself, to get past her "hangups" (as she mentioned earlier) and then when she sees him, it's beautiful because she doesn't NEED him, even though she still wants him, so I thought it was a brilliant ending.

"If you guys are here for a menage, I'm not in the mood." - "Roxie", Eastwick

[–] nyranda 13 years ago

Indeed.

"Kindness is Timeless." - Sergio Mendes ft. India