EVERYONE HATES THIS MOVIE ... BUT ME
Free.
That pretty much sums up the reason why I'm writing this issue's review on Dragonfly. It was a free screening. Frankly, I wouldn't have paid to see this movie, so it seems appropriate that the only way fate would lure me into the theater is because I'm a cheapskate. If you don't believe me, ask my girlfriend, she'll tell you.
The real irony here isn't that I watched a movie I didn't want to see, it's that I enjoyed it. But the thing is, I'm the only person who did. I've read 23 reviews on Dragonfly and I'm the only critic, honestly — I'm numero uno — who is going to give this thing a kind word.
But as the saying goes, so be it.
Dr. Joe Darrow (Kevin Costner), head of emergency services for Chicago Memorial Hospital, has his picture-perfect life shattered when his wife is killed in a bus accident on a remote mountain road in Venezuela. A doctor herself, Emily Darrow (Susanna Thompson) was on a medical mercy mission with the Red Cross, a mission Joe begged her not to go on.
Six months after her death, Emily's body has not been recovered, and Joe begins to shut down without the closure he needs. Family and friends try to comfort him, but Joe remains isolated by unexpressed grief. Reminders of Emily are everywhere, mostly taking the form of dragonflies, which she collected when she was alive.
Soon strange things start happening to Joe at home, in his dreams and when visiting his wife's former patients. Said patients are children who have survived near-death experiences, who tell Joe that Emily is "inside a rainbow" and that she is trying to communicate with him. Joe, being an atheist, has trouble believing at first, but the signs he receives are too strong to ignore.
The filmmakers and Universal Pictures have requested that critics not reveal "any of the plot revelations that we feel are essential for the audience's full enjoyment," so I don't want to overstep my bounds and ruin anything for you. Suffice it to say that the twists in Dragonfly are eerily intriguing and ultimately satisfying in the end.
Kevin Costner plays Joe effectively and with conviction. Going from normal to confused to utterly obsessed is surely a difficult feat for any actor, and Costner exceeds expectations. Kathy Bates leads a strong supporting cast which includes Joe Morton, Linda Hunt and Jacob Vargas, who gave a memorable performance as a Tijuana cop opposite Benecio Del Toro in Traffic.
The competent cast is helpful, but what makes this movie so engaging is all the chills along the way. Not nearly as creepy as The Sixth Sense and not as well-made as The Mothman Prophecies, Dragonfly falls somewhere in the middle, with a spooky uneasiness all its own.
2.27.2002
2.13.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Collateral Damage
TERRIORISM EASILY COMBATED IN REEL WORLD
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a helluva career playing the same role in all of his movies. But at 54, his reign as the supreme action hero may be in jeopardy.
His last two outings, End of Days and the Sixth Day, the latter running in theaters about as long as the title suggests,were flops, and it looked as if the man best known as the cyborg in the Terminator series might soon be saying hasta la vista to Hollywood.
Then along comes Collateral Damage, which, you may recall, Warner Bros. pulled from its original October release date because the terrorist-themed action flick was deemed inappropriate after the events of Sept. 11.
Good call. And a lucky break for Arnold — the movie's received so much press it will surely be the blockbuster he's needed to break out of his box office slump.
Does it live up to the hype? Nah. But Collateral Damage is one of the star's better films.
Schwarzenegger plays L.A. firefighter Gordy Brewer, an otherwise peaceful man who becomes hell-bent on revenge after his wife and son die in the bombing of a downtown plaza. A Colombian rebel leader known as "The Wolf" (Cliff Curtis) claims responsibility for the attack, and, after the investigation is stalled in a mess of red tape, Gordy decides to head to Columbia and track down his family's murderer himself.
How he actually gets into war-torn Columbia is never explained, and, in a movie like this, why bother? Collateral Damage walks that fine line between fantasy and reality, and when you sacrifice one for the other, it throws the story off balance.
Are we to believe that an everyday firefighter can track down an elusive terrorist in the Columbian jungle when our own government, utilizing all of its agencies and armed forces, can't find an elusive terrorist in a cave in Afghanistan? It is a perfect example of the difference between the real world and the reel world.
But you can't take any Schwarzenegger flick too seriously, which means there is still some fun to be had. The action, which is the draw of any of his films, does not disappoint. From Arnold jumping into a river to avoid his assailants and then falling down a waterfall to the explosive ending in our nation's capitol, Collateral Damage definitely causes some, ummm, damage.
Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) wisely injects some humor during and in between action sequences so you don't quite care as much about all of the improbabilities that abound.
Probably the coolest thing about this movie, however, is the fact that the hero doesn't once use a gun. As a firefighter, Schwarzenegger cleverly employs axes, homemade bombs and flammable gases to take out his enemies.
But just because this is one of Arnold's better movies does not make it a good one. Unless you're a diehard Schwarzenegger fan, you would be better off renting Collateral Damage when it comes to video and wait for the release of Terminator 3, which is now in the works.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a helluva career playing the same role in all of his movies. But at 54, his reign as the supreme action hero may be in jeopardy.
His last two outings, End of Days and the Sixth Day, the latter running in theaters about as long as the title suggests,were flops, and it looked as if the man best known as the cyborg in the Terminator series might soon be saying hasta la vista to Hollywood.
Then along comes Collateral Damage, which, you may recall, Warner Bros. pulled from its original October release date because the terrorist-themed action flick was deemed inappropriate after the events of Sept. 11.
Good call. And a lucky break for Arnold — the movie's received so much press it will surely be the blockbuster he's needed to break out of his box office slump.
Does it live up to the hype? Nah. But Collateral Damage is one of the star's better films.
Schwarzenegger plays L.A. firefighter Gordy Brewer, an otherwise peaceful man who becomes hell-bent on revenge after his wife and son die in the bombing of a downtown plaza. A Colombian rebel leader known as "The Wolf" (Cliff Curtis) claims responsibility for the attack, and, after the investigation is stalled in a mess of red tape, Gordy decides to head to Columbia and track down his family's murderer himself.
How he actually gets into war-torn Columbia is never explained, and, in a movie like this, why bother? Collateral Damage walks that fine line between fantasy and reality, and when you sacrifice one for the other, it throws the story off balance.
Are we to believe that an everyday firefighter can track down an elusive terrorist in the Columbian jungle when our own government, utilizing all of its agencies and armed forces, can't find an elusive terrorist in a cave in Afghanistan? It is a perfect example of the difference between the real world and the reel world.
But you can't take any Schwarzenegger flick too seriously, which means there is still some fun to be had. The action, which is the draw of any of his films, does not disappoint. From Arnold jumping into a river to avoid his assailants and then falling down a waterfall to the explosive ending in our nation's capitol, Collateral Damage definitely causes some, ummm, damage.
Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) wisely injects some humor during and in between action sequences so you don't quite care as much about all of the improbabilities that abound.
Probably the coolest thing about this movie, however, is the fact that the hero doesn't once use a gun. As a firefighter, Schwarzenegger cleverly employs axes, homemade bombs and flammable gases to take out his enemies.
But just because this is one of Arnold's better movies does not make it a good one. Unless you're a diehard Schwarzenegger fan, you would be better off renting Collateral Damage when it comes to video and wait for the release of Terminator 3, which is now in the works.
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