Rating: Summary: Not as good as I expected Review: 2 Stars Ever since it hit pay dirt with "Ghost" back in the summer 1990, Hollywood has been fascinated with tales about dead people attemping to contact their grieving loved ones from beyond the grave. The latest variation on the theme, a film called "Dragonfly", turns out to be one of the sappiest entires in the genre. To make this sort of nonsense palatable, one would need a lot more originality and depeth than are exhibited here. Part of the problem is that this Grieving Widower Syndrome seems to have been done to death in the past several years, most recently in "The Mothman Prophecies", which also featured a man getting in touch with the supernatural after the demise of his dearly beloved wife(but much better). "Dragonfly" tires hard to achieve an etheral quality, but the mundance script keeps it relentlessly earthbound. The film is neither suspensful nor romantic nor intriguing enough to make it truly effective as either a thriller, a love story, a fantasy or - as the film undoubtely would prefer - a combination of all three. Instead, think of "Dragonfly" as merely "Ghost-Lite".
Rating: Summary: Waste of time and money!!! Review: I wanted to like "Dragonfly". The premise was intriguing, at least for those who appreciate paranormal storylines, and it it seemed as though everything would fall satisfyingly into place. Unfortunately, the "twist" at the end undid every good thing the filmmakers had already established. I don't require a film to be believable-that seems to miss the point of the medium's capabilities altogether. However, I detest mediocrity. And "Dragonfly" is mediocre.Kevin Costner seemsuncomfortable in his role, as though he can never quite find the right way to inhabit Joe Darrow's grief. Susanna Thompson, radiant on "Once and Again", is completely wasted here as Costner's wife. Kathy Bates is excellent, as always, but her superiority as an actor makes Costner's performance look even thinner than it might have otherwise. I found "Dragonfly" a waste even as a rental.
Rating: Summary: What a major let-down Review: I usually like most of the Costner films that the critics hate but this is one truly silly movie. Nothing happens in this movie. Nothing. A script that purports to be about faith. I think the only faith involved is the viewer's in believing its worth the price and its not. Avoid it and watch The Sixth Sense.
Rating: Summary: I can't believe it... Review: Costner plays Joe Darrow, an emergency room doctor. His wife, also a doctor, dies in a flood in Venezuela, where she has gone to treat an indigenious tribe. Joe doesn't have much of a spiritual side, but that doesn't stop his wife's ghost from blowing out lights bulbs, rearranging the house, moving objects, driving the couple's pet parrot insane, and, best of all, reaching out to Joe through the near-death experiences of former child patients of hers. On and on the movie goes. Not trusting the audience to accept subtle clues and messages, it hits us over the head with obvious signs and events. It's methodology is to rely on gullible viewers' desire to believe in the most simplistic and silly New Age ideas. Sadly Dragonfly does nothing to revive the flagging career of Mr. Costner, who is entirely wrong for the role. He can be rather good actor, and I hope his fortunes turn in the near future. In the meantime, he needs to avoid any script that mentions dragonflies.
Rating: Summary: BAD Review: Excruciating to have sit through, at the end of the day Costner is just a world class bore, whilst the rest of the movie is simply embarrasing at best.
Rating: Summary: Scary alright Review: Horrible. The only thing that is good is Kathy Bates. It is a good story, but a terrible movie.
Rating: Summary: Excellent movie about love that knows no earthly bounds Review: If I had to choose a few words to describe this movie I would say - persistence, love, & faith. This movie is about a woman who refuses to accept the boundaries between life and death in order to "move" her husband for a purpose. Yes, at first I felt she was awfully selfish to haunt her husband and to send dying children back to earth. However, at the end of the movie I understood completely WHY. I would do the same thing in a similar situation. Without giving away the ending, it is a movie about the profound love and protectiveness that a woman has for her family!!
Rating: Summary: I see mostly dead people Review: For a minute there, I wasn't sure if I was watching "Ghost" or "The Sixth Sense" again. All I could see was Kevin Costner wandering around a hospital trying to deal with the death of his wife. Costner's character Joe is an unbeliever, a man who doesn't think a heaven exists. He's staunch in his beliefs, at least till wierd [stuff] starts happening in his house. At this point I thought I might be watching "What Lies Beneath" again. Even though Joe doesn't believe in heaven or ghosts, his wife decides to contact him, and proceeds to wreak utter havoc upon his life. Kids die and come back to life with messages for him, he sees a wierd symbol all over the place, his pet parrot goes crazy on him, and stuff starts breaking. Then, as a kicker, she starts rearranging things in the house. She's very lucky she didn't drive him to suicide--that's what I would have done. But, somehow, he starts believing and is led to a tribe of primitives in the jungles of Venezuela, and there he discovers the reason she's been pestering him. Then the movie gets all touching and you almost feel bad for making fun of the cheesy ghost theme at the beginning. This really isn't a bad movie, but it isn't that good either. It's a somewhat worn-out ghost story, complete with symbols, messages from beyond, even a crazy parrot. There is nothing new here, but at least the story has a point, and the ending IS good. Costner's acting is decent, and there is no gaping hole in the plot. It's not a bad movie to watch once, but only once. If you're the kind of person who likes ghost movies, by all means watch this one. You will not be disappointed. And, if you like getting startled by dead people suddenly coming back to life or animals freaking out, you'll also be very impressed. But, for the average movie-watcher this movie cannot rise above mediocrity, and barely even gets there. Watch it if you want, or don't--it really doesn't matter.
Rating: Summary: Dreadful Review: The only thing worse than the acting is the plot and dialogue. I do not have necessarily high standards. I liked "The Postman", a Costner film many hated. This film may become a classic as regards the "Morose School of Acting", or an example of how a bad film can be made much worse with a really dumb ending. The added features on the DVD helped me to dislike the film even more.
Rating: Summary: Avoid The Reviews That Reveal The Plot! Review: Wow! What a great surprise in this one! You really have to give it time to work on you.....award-winning acting, touching storyline, teetering-on-the-brink of reality scenes (did he see/do that or was it an illusion? was that? that couldn't have been?), an adventurous plot, and that absolutely believable and unexpected ending. Kevin Costner is great in this one. He has the touch to pull off what would have become an parapsychic mess with most actors. There is a magic here and it does work. Get this one and see what I mean....trust me....you'll be enchanted.
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