What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

I've seen "Once Were Warriors" and must say I found myself quite taken by it. So it was a day of much rejoicence, when I found out, that a sequel had been made. I bought it, and have just seen it. And.

There's a certain nostalgic feel, to seeing Jake the Muss and co. again. As they are very interesting characters, I was naturally interested in seeing how they were doing. And I was happy for Jake, when I found out that maybe he was finally realizing his responsobility. It's good to see someone mending.

But what's with the title, ehh?? Can you tell me that?!? A title like "What becomes of the Broken Hearted?" makes me all soft inside of that dark, sinister evilminded spirit of mine (Took that last bit a little to far, didn't I?). But there's absolutely no answer to that question, as the film shifts from drama to action-movie featuring Jake the Muss, Snake-gangs and some bold guy with a lot of freakin' tattoos! It's not really fun to watch. It doesn't say much about anything or anyone, and it offers no answer to that question it raises. It just ends for no reason what so ever.

There's some dad-son stuff. Some repending. A little bit of anger, hate, love-stuff, but we've seen that stuff before, haven't we folks?

I'll give this one 7, becuase I'm just a sentimental, softhearted (rich, goodlooking (You never know what kinda chicks might read this stuff) kinda guy. If you haven't seen "Once Were Warriors" you're going to hate this one for sure.

...That Ape is Dooley from the first film? And one of his gang members in the fight scene at the end of the movie is the guy that Jake decked in the bar for putting on the juke box from the first movie?! Surprised nobody has picked up on this!

The movie is great, not so much the harrowing insight into domestic abuse and child neglect, alcoholism and its results. More a tale of redemption, sorrow and revenge. I'd recommend everybody who liked Once Were Warriors see this, as it's a very fitting follow up.

Jake the Muss brings the goodness again, a few exciting fight scenes, a bit of domestic abuse and a whole bucket load of redemption and realisation at the hands of some unlikely people who help him see the errors of his ways.

7 out of 10.

It's impossible to consider What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? without remembering, its predecessor Once Were Warriors.

I remember two separate women weeping, slumped in their cinema seats for minutes, after the conclusion of the harrowing Once Were Warriors; a movie that depicted the terror of domestic violence.

I remember some Maori friends telling me that on the contrary, they laughed during Warriors because the film was so much like home in New Zealand. That's a sobering revelation. I suppose that laughter can sometimes be a healing force.

Recently the writer of both of these films, Alan Duff, explained on ABC radio that he wasn't a pariah with the Maori community in New Zealand as had been claimed by some in the media. He explained that anyway if there had been Maoris after him, he'd "be dead meat by now." A statement that perhaps accentuates the veracity of the source material.

Once Were Warriors was literally a stunning film and was centered about Beth, Jake's wife (Rena Owen) as she tries to deal with her violent husband. What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? moves a few years on.

Beth has left Jake and one of their sons Nig has become a member of an Auckland gang. He dies in a fight and his brother Sonny (Clint Ereura) teams up with Nig's former girlfriend Tania (Nancy Brunning) to get revenge.

Jake meanwhile is tying to come to terms with his violence. He's lost his daughter and one of his sons and has become estranged from his wife and remaining son. Something seems to be wrong but Jake has trouble controlling his temper.

Temuera Morrison was awesome as Jake in Warriors and again he's fascinating in What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?.

However What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? isn't in the same class as Warriors. It's much better than the average gang, action movie but has far too much shallowness, too many stolid, severe looks, and far too little real involvement with the characters to rate in the same class as the first in the series.

There are some high (low) points in What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? though. Jake breaks loose at one stage in his girlfriend's house. It's a portrayal of senseless, out of control, drunken violence that is memorable and unfortunately common in real life.

And then there's Tania when she begins singing in a record store; a scene that somehow moves beyond the ridiculous firmly into the charming. And Jake whacking those bikies heads in with spanners is pretty strong.

Temuera Morrison does hurtle us strongly into Jake's world. I hope there haven't been too many Jakes in your neighborhood.

I agree about the comments made that this movie was a major disappointment - but perhaps only cause its the sequel to Once were warriors. OWW conveyed real heart felt emotion with many excellent scenes, this broken hearted sequel on the other hand went in a completely different direction - more to the style of a typical mediocer action flick. No where near as good as the first but not a bad movie on its own.

PLOT IRREGULARITIES: Others have commented on this and its true - Sonny is no where in OWW, which on its own can be over looked. BUT in OWW there's a scene where Beth is talking about how Jake was "bosting about his baby boy" (refering to Nig) as if Nig was there first born child - but then all of a sudden Sonny appears on the scene. Sounds very much like a case of inventing characters just to make the sequel a bit interesting. Whether they achieved that or not is debatable.

Anyone expecting this film to be Once Were Warriors 2: The Continuing Misadventures of Jake the Muss will be disappointed. It stands as a great drama in its own right, and as a follow up to Once Were Warriors.

I think the reason it has come under heavy critical fire is because people were expecting it to be more of a sequel than a follow up, and were also expecting a similar emotional experience to Warriors, which is entirely different in this movie.

While Warriors wrenched your emotions back and forth, Broken Hearted barely has a scene without tension and sadness. There is no room to breath in this film, not even at the final reel, when we are suddenly confronted with the credits. A great film, and a great experience.