The elements are all there but never fully click into place - more like a TV movie than a big-screen drama.
Comment
05/29/09
Fireflies in the Garden
25
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:24
Fresh:6
Rotten:18
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: Despite boasting a stellar cast, Fireflies in the Garden is just tedious, dull and predictable melodrama. Instantly forgettable.
Rated: R [See Full Rating]
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Nov 30, 1999 Limited
Synopsis: Dennis Lee (JESUS HENRY CHRIST) directs this film that features an impressive cast: Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafor, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hayden Panettiere, Ioan Gruffudd, and Julia Roberts.... [More]
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss
Director: Dennis Lee
Reviews for Fireflies in the Garden
This is a slog of a melodrama. And with at least four sob stories competing for space, characters are left dangling like untied shoelaces, as backstories remain unfertilised.
05/29/09
Doesn't really have a plot, but it cleverly traces the interrelationships in a family over several years, and really gets under the skin
05/28/09
A sheer slog to sit through, Fireflies In The Garden might have worked if it wasn't so damn po-faced and the script actually had something to say about how families work.
05/29/09
It may be both both melancholy and intense but it packs an emotional jolt as the prodigal son reaches an understanding - if not a full-blown reunion - with his crotchety old man.
05/29/09
Consistently watchable and sometimes rather moving, although it is a rather slighter piece than the film-makers seem to think.
05/29/09
They stagger down memory lane for a little bloodletting, inspect skeletons in the cupboard and invariably end up bathing together in a hot tub of sentimental forgiveness and understanding.
06/02/09
A resolutely middlebrow dysfunctional family melodrama, it's one of those tediously self-congratulatory movies that projects an unearned air of superiority simply because it's not another slam-bang summer blockbuster.
05/29/09
The movie is one long argument, tiresome and repetitive, that produces more heat than light.
02/13/08
Top CriticIt’s not a bad film – Lee directs with subtle grace and the cast is predictably strong – but it’s saddled with too many characters, not enough drama and a strong sense of overfamiliarity.
05/29/09
Dennis Lee’s sentimental drama is full of big stars and good intentions but still winds up feeling no better than a tear-jerking television soap opera.
05/29/09
Julia Roberts, Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson are strictly slumming it in this saccharine melodrama.
05/29/09
The entire experience feels like it is leading up to a dramatic and well-needed climax, but sadly this never materialises and what we're left with is a run-of-the-mill yarn, albeit one with a stellar cast.
05/29/09
As tales of troubled families go, it may have aspirations to be like Ordinary People, but it falls way short.
04/24/09
A watchable but ultimately blah family drama.
06/02/09
A movie tomb in which zombiedom is confused with - what's the phrase? - "nuanced performances". Fireflies may be a douche to freshen up the thesp skills of A-listers, but why do we have to suffer for their art?
05/28/09
A sickly sweet family drama stuffed with exceptionally high-profile performers - so much so that they threaten to overwhelm it just by their presence.
05/29/09
An agonisingly sincere drama of familial dysfunction, this is notable for some very basic miscasting.
05/29/09
We’re in the twilight land of the sensitive indie ensemble piece, something American stars gravitate to for reasons of range and prestige, but which ends up being more cathartic for them than for us.
05/29/09
A heavy, entertaining but slightly forgettable family drama.
05/29/09
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