Remember Boogie Nights and Heather Graham's breakout role as Rollergirl? That was ten years ago.

Graham went on to play cute and sweet in the delightful Sidewalks of New York (with her then boyfriend, writer/director Edward Burns); cute and perky in the quirky The Guru; cute and sexy in the hysterical The Oh in Ohio; cute and magnetic in the syrupy but fun fantasy Cake; cute and pliable as Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; and cute and a little more serious in the ensemble drama Bobby. She's attempted television with a stint on Scrubs and then her own failed series, Emily's Reasons Why Not, which made absolutely no sense (I watched maybe five minutes of it). But she never failed to be cute.

So what is the cute and expressive-eyed Graham doing in something like Broken? Isn't there any better material out there for her? I've seen her do it (see the films mentioned above). Sure, she's unlikely to find that Academy-award winning role, but she's entertaining. Broken lacks decent dialogue, character development, and purpose. It's a shell of a film. The only good thing in it is a soundtrack with plenty of Brian Jonestown Massacre songs.

Hope [lying on the beach]: Does this usually work for you? This approach?
Will: Do you want me to go?
Hope: Do you want to go?
Will: Well no, but . . .

Hope (Graham) escapes the Midwest to pursue her dream of being a musician. Ending up in Los Angeles, she meets Will (Jeremy Sisto). They go home together and then start doing drugs and lolling around. She leaves him and ends up a waitress. Graham is sunshine and smiles, exuding a bubbly, though somewhat deflated, persona as her character becomes frenzied, then reflective. As Will, Sisto is just doing what he's been doing since the end of Six Feet Under: playing the brooding, dangerous type. In what is intended as some sort of creative filmmaking montage, Hope confronts the deadly sins one night. Meanwhile, Will is driving to get her back. In flashbacks, he's obsessive and won't let her go. And I'm thinking, isn't that too much energy for a heroin addict? Shouldn't he just shoot up and forget, instead of driving to get the girl? Nothing says "I love you" better than a gun.

Broken is a forgettable film with Graham languishing in the lead role.