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2011, 10-11:
Review of film: “FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN”
This 99-minute R-rated film was directed by Dennis Lee. It was completed in 2008, but, for some unexplained reason, its release was DELAYED until now...
... Young pre-teen Michael Taylor (CAYDEN BOYD) is an unhappy young man. While his mother Lisa (JULIA ROBERTS) is very kind & supportive, his teacher father Charles (WILLEM DAFOE) is insensitive & a BULLY towards him:
... Willem complains about unimportant matters, & when Cayden doesn’t immediately respond as he wants, he PUNISHES him to a ridiculous degree, such as demanding he get out of the car & WALK home in a huge DOWNPOUR...
... All of that cruel treatment has very ADVERSELY AFFECTED Michael in his LATER life: we keep periodically seeing scenes of the grown-up Michael (now played by RYAN REYNOLDS) having a series of NIGHTMARES about his past treatment by Willem...
... In time, we learn that Ryan has had some “albatross” REACTIONS to how he’d been handled in the past:
... We see he takes his frustrations out on OTHER creatures: he uses explosives he throws in water to kill FISH, & has long had a “tradition” of going outside in the garden & using TENNIS-type racquets to kill innocent FIREFLIES there (smashing them so their lighting elements fly around the area)...
... He also is frequently a very sarcastic & politically-“INCORRECT” type person, on top of how he keeps having nightmares & DAY-mares from BAD memories from Willem’s past treatment of him...
... The film alternates between Ryan’s “early” bad days with Willem, & his CURRENT situation...
... We see something evoke a memory in Ryan of how his father had complained bitterly when he -- as a kid -- had left his bike in front of the family’s garage...
... Ryan is now a grown man in his 30’s. His mom Julia is planning a celebration for her upcoming graduation from a COLLEGE she’d belatedly decided to attend...
... That’s why Ryan is taking an airplane to come HOME for the first time in like 17 years. During those years, he’d been “distant” from the family as he pursued becoming a romance novelist...
... In flashbacks, we see young Cayden became a bit close to Julia’s “wild” & “free-spirited” younger sister JANE Lawrence (HAYDEN PANETIERRE)...
... We also see that his father Willem had also been a tormenter towards JULIA...
... It got so bad, that Cayden at one point tried to PROTECT her from him...
... And, Cayden himself eventually had a younger sister named RYNE (SHANNON LUCIO), who he helped name after one of his favorite baseball players...
... As the film unwinds, we see Willem in “CURRENT” times is driving Julia around as she’s talking about her upcoming GRADUATION ceremony & all...
... Shortly before they arrive at their old house where grown Jane (EMILY WATSON) lives with her husband Jimmy (GEORGE NEWBURN), Emily’s son Christopher (CHASE ELLISON) is seemingly chasing down an errant baseball...
... Julia notices Chase has run out into the street & WARNS Willem that he’s up ahead... Willem then suddenly swerves, hits a TREE, & Julia is KILLED in the crash (& Willem is hospitalized & eventually needs CRUTCHES to walk)...
... When Ryan arrives at Jane’s house, he’s shocked & DISTRAUGHT to hear the news about his beloved mom Julia...
... When he visits Willem in the hospital, it’s clear that the antagonism he’s felt towards him is STILL very powerful...
... Ryan at one point tries to talk to young Chase, & initially speaks in a very acerbic tone and in a bluntly “candid” rather than “warm” way most adults would use when talking to kids...
... He could tell that Chase was very UPSET about what had happened to Julia...
... The family tries to “SMOOTH over” what had happened to Julia and act generally “supportive” towards Willem-- tho Ryan sort of can’t be “BOTHERED” with it all, & he keeps having more bad dreams & the like...
... Ryan has written a sort of “EXPOSÉ” of his life growing up in the town with his abusive father Willem & all...
... But, tho there are various “get-togethers” of the family (such as at a DINNER, shown below), he does NOT volunteer any “information” about his effort to get “away” from writing ROMANCE novels...
... At one point, Ryan decides to “teach” Chase & his sister Leslie (BROOKLYNN PROULX) how to throw explosives to kill FISH...
... When Willem learns of how Ryan had done that, he COMPLAINS to him at a meal about how such an action was “EMBARRASSING” -- to which Ryan sarcastically responds, “To WHO?!...”
... And, Ryan at one point also takes the kids out in the garden & demonstrates how to use racquets to destroy FIREFLIES there...
... None of that particularly tends to really “HELP” the overall situation of the growing DYSFUNCTIONS going on amongst the family members-- including Emily telling Ryan, ‘You suck!...”
... Will anyone be able to find out what’s “bothering” young CHASE emotionally, & will that be able to HELP him with his growing problems in life?...
... Will Ryan TELL people about his just-completed “EXPOSÉ” manuscript, &, if so, what will that “CAUSE” in the family dynamic?...
... Will Ryan learn to “DEAL” with his numerous “demons” effectively?...
... Willem’s character is hoping to be named PRESIDENT of his University... Would Julia’s death serve to cause Willem to really “CHANGE” his attitudes towards OTHER people in life (as the movie in essence infers it WANTS you to “see”)?...
... Overall, there’s a bunch of fine ACTING by the ensemble... It’s one of the least “quirky” roles Willem DAFOE has completed in some time, & performances by him & Julia & the others are often POWERFULLY done...
... I’m afraid I did not particularly “buy” the supposed “CHANGE” in Willem’s character towards the OTHERS in his family...
... It struck me as “incomplete” in the way it was handled-- a sort of “PAT” attempt to give the film a sort of quasi-“HAPPY” / “UPLIFTING” ending that just didn’t “WORK” successfully for me, in part because it was handled overly “QUICKLY” in my opinion...
... The story is a SAD one in the way lives can be adversely affected by unkind & BULLYING actions from people “around” us in life...
... It’s a WELL-DONE movie overall, & that’s why I’m rating it at 7.50 out of 10 stars...
[ ... An “ASIDE”: the movie is a semi-autobiographical story of the life of the director, DENNIS LEE. He’d won a STUDENT OSCAR for his short film “JESUS HENRY CHRIST” (about 10-year-old students & a new principal at a Catholic Academy) in 2003...
[... Lee’s mother died in 2002, & that event moved him to write this new story, which he’s made into his first FEATURE film. Overall, it’s an IMPRESSIVE debut effort!...]
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