In this supernatural thriller, Kevin Costner plays Joe Darrow, a physician mourning the death of his wife Emily (Susannah Thompson) in a bus accident in South America, where she was providing medical outreach. Wracked by grief, Joe works extra shifts at the hospital to take his mind off the tragedy, but the intense workload triggers his short temper and some careless mistakes. His officious boss (Joe Morton) forces Joe to take time off, but Joe feels obligated to check in on his wife's pediatric
patients, fulfilling a promise he made before she left. Visiting the ward, Joe starts to believe that Emily is using the near-death experiences of her terminal patients to communicate with him, through images the children report seeing in their dreams, and symbols they are inexplicably compelled to draw. While the children see Joe as a kindred spirit, the hospital staff worries about how these interactions are agitating them. At home, Joe begins finding other ethereal evidence of his wife's attempt to contact him from beyond the grave, some of it featuring the image of a dragonfly, which was the shape of the birthmark on her shoulder. His friends and a caring neighbor (Kathy Bates) worry that Joe is losing his marbles, especially as his quest becomes more frantic, putting his job in jeopardy. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
The undisputed king of the cornball concept, Kevin Costner has an uncanny aptitude for gravitating toward the dopiest projects in sight, but this time he's outdone himself.
Chances are good that if you loved Ghost or Truly Madly Deeply, you'll at the very least like this fitfully affecting tale of love beyond death and faith beyond reason.
If you're a Costner fan, you'll find Dragonfly mildly diverting, but otherwise you'll come away agreeing with the woman in the audience who said as the lights went up, 'That was so cheesy.'
The screenplay credited to Brandon Camp, Mike Thompson and David Seltzer starts out with energy and substance, but reverts to time-filling repetition before it reaches the last-minute climax.
On the big screen, the film seemed Lifetime-cable ready; revisited on the small screen, it doesn't even pass muster on those less-than-lofty standards.
The movie is OK - not outstanding, just OK. It is frustrating as we see Joe (Costner) getting these supposed messages from his deceased wife, and we don't know if he is crazy or if he really is getting messages (which could also be construed as being crazy). Anyways Joe takes off for Venezuela to try and find out
what happened for himself.
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