What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Sarah Lloyd (Andie MacDowell) is a Newsweek journalist. Her husband Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn) is a renown war photographer. He is conflicted about leaving his family for another war zone. He gets challenged by rival Kyle Morris (Adrien Brody) to go cover the simmering strife in Yugoslavia. Harrison goes there and is reported killed in a collapsed building. His body is not recovered and Sarah refuses to accept the report. There is a phone call from someone after Harrison's death but she couldn't hear the voice. The conflict heats up as Serbian troops move into Croatia and she heads for the center Vukovar. She is almost raped during a harrowing skirmish. She is found by reporters led by Marc Stevenson (Brendan Gleeson). Kyle is also there. He was the one who made the phone call but is reluctant to tell her.There is compelling action about a compelling conflict. Despite the harrowing subject, it doesn't come off as gritty. It almost has an action adventure vibe. The reporters are walking around in the chaotic massacres and it doesn't feel as intense as it should be. The flashforwards don't help since they show some of the characters alive after the fact. It's also true that Andie MacDowell lacks the gravitas to do serious gritty work. This could have been better.

"Harrison's Flowers" is about a photojournalist (David Strathairn) named Harrison Lloyd who is presumed dead when a building he was in collapses in Yugoslavia. His wife (Andie MacDowell), a journalist for Newsweek, believes that he is alive and goes to Yugoslavia to try and find him. She's not prepared for what she sees when she gets there.This is a good movie about a heroic, determined woman, and what she has to endure to find her husband. The depiction of the warring factions and photojournalists is highly inaccurate, though the actual scenarios of death, bombings, and shootings are probably right for any war.I didn't mind Andie MacDowell as much as some, presuming that any woman thrown into this kind of situation is going to experience some kind of traumatic shock - heavy emoting would probably be inappropriate. Nevertheless, she doesn't have much presence. Adrien Brody is excellent as Kyle, and David Strathairn is wonderful as Harrison. The flowers analogy is quite moving - Harrison is depicted as a gentle man who has a greenhouse, and in his absence, their son works in it. The flowers become a symbol of hope.With some research for accuracy and the casting of a stronger actress, someone like Michelle Pfeiffer, perhaps, this film could have been much better.

At firs i must say this: I did not see the movie.I read some comments about movie and i will explain now why i wrote without seeing the movie.I will watch it later for sure bur comment first. I vote with 5 because there are some elements which are very wrong.Sorry for my English.I am from Belgrade and i think that there were many wrong things in that war but not all of them are done by Serbs.There is other side if the war.They done things too.I think that the Croats are more nationalist now,especially then,then the Serbs.I am tired of watching this kind of movies.1 sided an pretty untrue.Sorry thats my opinion.Also i think that it is very stupid to go as a reporter in military uniform,especially at the time and place where is a lot of snipers.

I picked this film up in my local charity shop and bored with what on the t.v. I placed it in my video....I can only say I was blown away by its stark and unyielding realism. My husband died in war zone and seeing this film brought home the reality of how war far to easily produces monsters out of the normal everyday men caught up in it. Out of all the performances, two were outstanding, Brendan Gleeson showed fear so tangible, that I wanted to reach into the screen and rescue him. Adrien Brody's portrayal of a man hooked on something to ease his pain, help him sleep or take his hunger away was also a superb performance. I would recommend this film.