hyped garbage

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Charles Taylor (Willem Dafoe) is a domineering abusive father to Michael and constantly fighting with his wife Lisa (Julia Roberts). As an adult, Michael (Ryan Reynolds) is a successful romance novel writer. He's coming home to see his mother graduate with his sister Ryne (Shannon Lucio). He's still bitter at his ex-wife Kelly Hanson (Carrie-Anne Moss). Lisa has a younger sister Jane (Hayden Panettiere/Emily Watson). As Charles and Lisa drive to her graduation from college, they get into an accident killing Lisa. This movie flashes back a lot to Michael as a young boy when Jane comes to live with them.The flashbacks are handled poorly. There are too many of them and it's a confusing mess to get a handle on who's who in all of this. It doesn't help that Emily Watson is nothing like Hayden Panettiere. I don't mean their looks. They don't have the same personality. It needs to settle down on all the main characters before they do extensive flashbacks. It all ends up in a ball of chaos.The good part is Willem Dafoe. He has the power of presence. He sells his domineering personality. Ryan Reynolds holds his own. There are some good actors in this movie. There is a compelling dysfunctional family drama, but writer/director Dennis Lee can't quite put it all together. With the caliber of actors, this should have made a much better movie.

This is a fairly good film with a good cast. However, it is Emily Watson who shines in what good have been a rather insignificant role if not for her utter brilliance. She brings a realistic fire and passion to the role of a protective mother who witnessed the abuse perpetrated by a savagely disordered relative while she was a child. Perhaps what was most interesting about her presence in the film is that she towers over the pathetically inadequate Julia Roberts in talent, depth, and even beauty. Roberts may have an Academy Award (a joke) and Emily Watson may have only been nominated twice (an utter outrage she has not been recognized by the Academy), but pay attention to what they accomplish in their respective parts. Watson is a true actor while Roberts is a mere curiosity in her pitiful attempts to be something other than what she is. It is Watson who the audience can not take their eyes off of and they hang on her every word. While this motion picture is worth seeing on its own terms, it is Emily Watson who makes it memorable and a film with meaning and beauty.

I'm not a literary genius or anything but this movie left me totally confused. Why did it seem like everyone was beating up on Michael, the one who had been abused? Even the aunt Jane whom I thought would have been the most understanding had zero empathy for Michael and defended the father to the death. She said that the book would kill the father (William Dafoe). Well, so effing what if it does? At least the writer could have let the audience know why she cared so much, after all her relation is to Lisa not the father so it makes absolutely no sense to me. She said to Michael "everything you touch turns to sh**", where did that come from? In my eyes it was totally unwarranted and if it had been me she would have gotten punched in the teeth for saying it. Then she never apologized even after Michael found her son. So it just seems like continued abuse on the abused. Then to throw the Manuscript in the fire is supposed to be a sign of forgiveness? So Michael's supposed to feel guilty for his father's sins? What!? Come on....It would have been a better movie if Jane didn't grow up to be such a turncoat b**ch.

It's taken 4 years for FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN to premier in the USA. Whilst it has been screened since 2008 in some parts of the world it never seems to have made its way to light. This baffles me. What exactly went wrong at the production houses? Is that why this didn't see its way through out until now? Honestly I have no clue. One of the best works I have seen by far of Ryan Reynolds; with comparison to him suiting up in green early this summer in GREEN LANTERN.Redemption; what do we know about this? Are we capable of deliverance from all the dark deeds we have done of the past? Have they just been merely forgotten with time? Are we fooled by this forgetful nature of man and perceive forgetfulness as a form of redemption? I am familiar with the term forgive and forget, does this mean that once we remember we withdraw the forgiveness once given? This may sound quite an eccentric school of thought; however this is exactly where writer/director Dennis Lee has left me hanging. Undoubtedly the most realistic and unorthodox script I have come across for 2011. Being unorthodox is the latest fad in writing. The more twisted the plot is the more WOW the audience becomes. However many of such scripts are always on far-fetched realms of reality. Many of them will never come to life unlike FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN. Families that are broken down due to poverty, adultery or merely due to vanity are quite common today. Divorce which was once a word that was frowned upon is now household. What goes on within a family that is broken from within however yet is holding on? How will you grow up when your father is a raging alcoholic who beats you and the rest of your family? How will you grow up if you father is domineering and a control freak? Are we products of what has become to us of the past? Indeed we all are. Michael Taylor is no exception. Charlie Taylor runs his own little state prison in house. Young kids don't take to this sort of treatment quite well, some of them will retaliate and some will bottle it all in until one day they will put it all out. The falling out between Michael and Charlie has been over 17 years until the entire family is to reunite on the occasion of celebrating Lisa's graduation. Instead of coming home to his parents, Michael walks into his mother funeral and his father hospitalization following a fatal motor accident. Michael who is a very successful published author returns with the hope of forgiveness. However will this sudden turn of events wipe away that trail of thought? Will Michael ever be able to forgive his father? Follow closely on the sharp symbolisms used by Dennis Lee and you will for sure understand if it's forgiven or if it's just being forgotten!A beautiful drama for those of you who enjoy a more realistic feel to your theatrical experience. A wonderful showcase of talent by Ryan Reynolds, Willie Dafoe and Chase Ellison who plays Christopher. Supporting them alongside the lady with the most famous smile in Hollywood Julia Roberts (Julia takes a back seat in this one lets the others do the work) heroes star Hayden Panettiere and Emily Watson.Title: Fireflies in the Garden Directed by: Dennis Lee Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Wille Dafoe, Chase Ellison, Hayden Pannettiere, Shannon Lucio, Emily Watson & Julia Roberts Rated: R for language and some sexual content. Rating: 07/10 99 Minutes