MOVIE REVIEW :: Dragonfly

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.