There is love as well as filth and misery

Brett 2022-01-21 08:01:34

In recent years, the big-mouthed beauty Julia Roberts has starred in none of the movies that can be called the best. Guest appearances such as "Twelve Arhats" and "Valentine's Day" are not counted, and the films themselves are blatant commercials for money; "Charlie Wilson's War" and "Duplicity" have not encountered critics or box office Waterloo, but they are all. Plain work; the animations "Charlotte's Web" and "Don't mess with ants" dubbed by her did not cause any sensation in the animation field. "Fireflies in the Garden" is also one of the ranks.

As for preparing to spend two hours watching the film, there are good reasons. As a big-mouth fan in a non-strict sense, no matter how her appearance changes, it is also a good thing to watch someone grow old calmly and gracefully. There are also character actors like William Dafoe who are indulged in the field of art films. His acting skills can form part of the work.

Under normal circumstances, big-name actors such as Julia Roberts, who participated in works directed by directors with little resume, may be because they like scripts and characters, and hope to fight a beautiful turnaround. After their golden age, their acting career declined and they needed to break through the bottleneck. As Julia Roberts’s age has risen, it is no longer possible for her to star in romantic dramas that are popular among young people. Whether she admits it or not, her commercial value is rapidly declining. It is difficult to make a big difference in business, so it is better to break into the field of art and earn some reputation. Moreover, Julia has been involved in independent films for many years, such as the roles of Robert Altman ("The Player Behind the Scenes", "Storm") and Woody Allen ("Everyone Says I Love You") She even won an "Independent Spirit Award" for the movie.

This film is director Dennis Lee's feature film debut. It tells the story of a family relationship from breakdown to restoration. The commerciality of the film is not strong. In the words of the American independent film circle, the participation of big names like Julia is a dedication of love. Although this is not a pure love, she took the risk of a newcomer's first work, hoping to get high rewards from high risks and go further in her career. Of course, few people are lucky, or have good vision, like Tim Rose joining Quentin Tarantino's "Falling Dog" without hesitation, and finally aroused applause. But the big mouth girl who everyone loves, is now the big mouth lady, and once again failed.

The main line of the film is the relationship between the son Michael Taylor played by Ryan Reynolds and his father (played by William Dafoe). Michael has been trapped in his father's shadow since he was a child and hated his father. When he grew up, he still couldn't forgive his father. He has no father's love, but the love given by his mother (Julia Roberts), although he can't compete with the strong fatherhood, it also protects his growth. Another woman, his aunt Jenny, has a good relationship with him, giving him some feelings similar to brothers and sisters to some extent.

From beginning to end, whether it is reality or memory, Michael's hatred for his father seems to be deeply rooted in his bones and cannot be resolved. There is no change in the image of the father, so he becomes an incomprehensible character. He is almost abusive to his son, like a sadistic person, and occasionally expresses his emotions towards his son, which is completely inadequate to his harshness. symmetry. Injuries in a car accident are more of a weakening of strength, and the mental image of his father has not been weakened. Because of the death of their mother and a family video at the end of the movie, their frozen relationship melted.

Dennis Lee is the second generation of Korean-Americans, and the restrained emotion of the film must come from his oriental background. There is a scene in which Michael's father and others are silently mourning for his mother downstairs, while he and his girlfriend are walking upstairs in the clouds and rain. This dramatic scene is American. The film did not mediate the relationship between restraint and drama, and the effect was not good, and it was a bit uncoordinated. The restrained emotions brought heavy weight, and the final Hollywood ending came too easily, and the plot of the film was unconvincing.

In addition to the main line, there are many plots that are a bit inexplicable. The scene where Michael met Jenny for the first time as a child can also be regarded as a normal phenomenon in the growth period of adolescence. The film uses a lot of pen and ink on this scene, and it is tentatively understood that Michael was too repressed by his father; a scene where Michael and Jenny had a quarrel in adulthood. , So that their ambiguous relationship was completely exposed, and the friendly relationship that was too close before was also obscured. After that, the film did not continue to describe it, and the relationship between this extraneous branch completely interfered with the plot. In addition, the derailment exposed in the letters of mother Lisa, the scene of Jenny's son running in the wheat field (same as the teenager Michael), etc., lack more reasonable narrative reasons. Was the mother's derailment a resistance to his father, a search for true love, or a love history of an ordinary woman's forbearance? Jenny's son was guilty, but he was different from the young Michael. Using the same editing and scenes was just a kind of unnecessary repetition and comparison, and there was no good effect.

Mending a broken relationship may require more skill than showing how a relationship broke. Michael talked about why his memory was full of hatred for his father and scenes of quarreling with them. Later, the videotape became effective and their relationship reconciled. This is like, in the soil where the ingredients are all hate, a little seed of love saves the entire garden of human nature intertwined with love and hate. The lack of a reasonable transition is more of wishful thinking, a self-consolation to the pain.

View more about Fireflies in the Garden reviews

Extended Reading
  • Eleanora 2022-03-25 09:01:19

    In this powerful and luxurious cast, Julia Roberts is the absolute highlight.

  • Major 2022-03-25 09:01:19

    Five stars for the music at the beginning

Fireflies in the Garden quotes

  • Jimmy: [to Michael] Gotta tell you my kids love it here. Christopher's in your old room and Leslie here is in Ryne's.

    [turns to Leslie]

    Jimmy: Say hello to your cousin.

    Michael: [to Leslie, when she doesn't say anything] You're short.

    Jimmy: [to Michael] Yeah guest room's upstairs, second door on the right, but I guess you know that because uh this is your home.

    Leslie: Uncle Charlie said it's our home now.

    Jimmy: You're right honey, it is our home now. But um, Michael grew up here so... it's his home, too.

    Leslie: But it's our home.

    Jimmy: [picks Leslie up] What do you say we go catch some more of that ball game, huh?

    [to Michael as he starts walking]

    Jimmy: If you need anything let me know.

    Michael: Okay.

    Jimmy: [stops and turns back to Michael] Hey this... this is great, you know... It's good to...

    Michael: Yeah you too.

    [Mouths to Leslie after Jimmy turns back around]

    Michael: It's MY home.

  • Michael: [sits down near Christopher on the roof] I love what you've done with the room.

    [lights a cigarette]

    Michael: I used to come out here a lot when I was grounded.

    Christopher: [sniffing because he was crying] Mom told me you were always getting in trouble.

    Michael: She should talk.

    Christopher: [crossly] What's that supposed to mean?

    Michael: Before your mother was a mom, she was my best friend.

    Christopher: [sarcastically] You guys have tea parties together?

    Michael: Yeah, occasionally. Your mother taught me everything I shouldn't know, smartass.

    Christopher: Like how to write like a chick?

    Michael: Oh. That's funny. It's nice to see your balls finally dropped, Christopher.

    [looks away for a second]

    Michael: No, she taught me the art of fishing.

    Christopher: Fishing?

    Michael: [dragging from his cigarette] Mm-hmm.

    Christopher: Fishing is boring.

    Michael: Not the way we used to do it, it wasn't.

    Christopher: Whatever.

    Michael: You want me to show you?