Broken English

Parker Posey is ready for her close up. I’m a big fan of the indie queen, but here she goes deeper than the shiny, brittle, manic demeanor of many of her roles -- more natural, more naked, but still neurotic in her own inimitable way. So I was highly disposed to like this film, and debut writer-director Zoe Cassavetes didn’t mess it up too badly with her own neuroses. You sort of give away the autobiographical game when you cast your mom (Gena Rowlands) as your mom! Zoe -- daughter of John and sister of Nick in the indie director game -- goes awry when an honest look at the romantic panic of a youngish New York career girl devolves into rom-com convention and wish fulfillment. And then she really loses it by clipping her ending from Before Sunset -- a great model, but where is the line between appropriation and plagiarism? And where is the honest resolution to the questions you profess to address? I understand some viewers’ impatience with these proceedings, but I confess I’m a sucker for Parker. (2007, dvd, n.) *7-* (MC-61.)