The film feels like jumbling through shuffled photographs that hold bittersweet memories. Non-linear narrative has become more recognized device to sketch a contrast change in a relationship. It's an effective device which makes it easy to tell a story with a sense of tragic irony. A film that followed this style in my recent memory is 'Blue Valentine'. 'The Broken Circle Breakdown' tells a story of a couple trying to deal with the sickness tragedy of their leukemic child while jumbling through their past. The scenes with this sweet child girl feel most honest, and hence deeply moving. It has one of the most hard-hitting and realistic scenes of post-traumatic stress in a relationship I've seen in films. The film is helped by some fine performances by its leads, and country music is a driving vector of this story. But the film is at its disadvantage because of distracting, and sometimes incoherent, editing. You're shifting from a moment to another moment. Some stick with you, and some don't.
Review of The Broken Circle Breakdown
