Fireflies in the Garden poster & wallpaper

Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe

Michael Taylor (Ryan Reynolds) is an author who has channeled his painful childhood memories into his novels. With some reluctance, he is flying home for his mother Lisa's (Julia Roberts) college grad...( read more  read more... )uation. After a lifetime of putting everyone else first, stroking her husband's (Willem Dafoe) massively insecure ego and raising her children in spite of that, it's Lisa's turn. What should be a moment of great celebration turns into a tragic reunion when Lisa is killed in a car accident, leaving father, son and family to pick up the pieces. While preparing for their mother's funeral, memories are relived and secrets are revealed which will test the family bond. After a childhood of hiding in his father's shadows, protected by his mother, Michael must confront his past and find an understanding of his family, his father and himself.

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47% liked it

25,285 ratings

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25% liked it

24 critics

R, 2 hrs.

Directed by: Dennis Lee

Release Date: February 10, 2008

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Emily Watson & Ryan Reynolds Chase Ellison, Ryan Reynolds & Brooklynn Proulx Fireflies in the Garden Carrie-Anne Moss & Ryan Reynolds Fireflies in the Garden Willem Dafoe & Ryan Reynolds Fireflies in the Garden Fireflies in the Garden Hayden Panettiere & Cayden Boyd Julia Roberts & Hayden Panettiere Chase Ellison, Ryan Reynolds & Brooklynn Proulx Fireflies in the Garden Hayden Panettiere & Cayden Boyd Hayden Panettiere & Cayden Boyd Fireflies in the Garden Fireflies in the Garden Fireflies in the Garden Hayden Panettiere & Julia Roberts
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Flixster Reviews (843)

  • thmtsang
    September 27, 2009
    thmtsang
    Good cast but quite a dark story. Michael (Ryan Reynolds) is an author who returns to his family and hometown to celebrate his mother's college graduation. However, his mother Lisa (Julia Roberts) is killed in a car accident. The family are forced together to prepare for the fune...( read more)ral. Painful memories of his relationship with his father and his aunt are brought up. Only problem - you feel for the characters but it doesn't explain what all the family secrets are.
  • briandeguelle
    March 28, 2009
    briandeguelle
    A surprising film for me,Not really knowing too much about it.It took me back and surprise to see a large cast of well known actors in a little charming movie at a dysfunctional family and it terms with a death in the family.And with the pass with father and son.All on top form h...( read more)ere and worth a look.It is a slow movie but i never really minded that!
  • IfeellikeGregorSamsa
    October 14, 2008
    IfeellikeGregorSamsa
    Not nearly as powerful and thought-provoking as "Junebug" (See my review if interested), yet ambitious and honest, Dennis Lee's "Fireflies in the Garden" fails to satisfy its subject, which would be dysfunctionality of family. It's sad when someone wants to tell a tough story and...( read more) at the same time wants to play it safe. Family picture should be a family picture as good drama should be a good drama, yet Lee mixes the two, making us constantly seeing everything what's on the surface, rarely giving a chance to go into the inner hell of regret and anger so we would care as much as he would want us to.

    It all starts with an arrogant, self-centered prick, Charles Waechter, a frustrated writer and a father (Willem Dafoe) who, like many people, probably started a family to overcome social fear of being lonely in case his writing career didn't work out. His wife, Lisa (Julia Roberts) is a State of the Art of Patience for her husband, compassionate and easy-going, mainly focused on her son, Michael (Ryan Reynolds). The picture, sliced on two parts - the one in which Michael is a boy, and two in which he is a grown-up man - presents cause and effect of their relationship. Michael has a tough time with his father, seeing him almost as a irrational, demanding, grotesque creature with unexplainable need of authority. But, as he is sensitive and intelligent, he also needs fair share of understanding, which can't be given to him by his father. He gets it from his aunt, Jane. The death of his mother in a car accident followed by burial, slowly brings son and father to new, even though hidden through grudges, understanding.

    Dennis Lee shows a lot of potential, especially for character's relations and dialogue, which can be seen, for instance, in wonderfully written and acted dinner scene. Secondly, just from the subject he picked up we can be sure we may expect some other serious work from him in the future. And probably better one, since photography is too steady, lacking necessary realism and therefore creating a distance between us and presented world. But the main problem with his debut would be that, although he clearly knows what the story he is telling and has actors who do excellent work (especially Emily Watson and Ryan Reynolds), in the end, he doesn't offer much to be left with, and its positive ending isn't much convincing, in a context of how it relates to reality. Of course, cinema may give us a hope that even the most complex relations can be eventually solved, but if you know what dysfunctional family really is, you take an ending like this with a sigh. It doesn't mean it makes it not worthwile to watch. It just that after "Junebug", the expectations are, naturally, pretty high.
  • bort16
    October 12, 2008
    bort16
    The problem with movies about dysfunctional families is the same one that spy movies have: they're a dime a dozen, and rarely offer anything new. Wes Anderson has made dysfunction his specialty. Noah Baumbach's Squid and the Whale was also a very good film about dysfunctional fam...( read more)ilies, as is Jonathan Demme's new film Rachael Getting Married.
    Dennis Lee's feature length debut, Fireflies in the Garden is a technically well made film. It looks good, it sounds good. Lee is a sound director. But good direction can't always save a flat script. That's the problem with the movie. It offers nothing new into an already crowded genre.
    I suspect that the film's script must have looked quite good. After all, it netted a slew of stars - Ryan Reynolds, Emily Watson, Willem Defoe, Hayden Panettiere, Iaon Gruffud, and Julia Roberts.
    Reynolds stars as as Michael Waechter, the son of a self absorbed intellectual jerk, Charles (Dafoe). His mother is Lisa (Roberts). The film goes back and forth in time, between Michael's childhood and present day. While on the way to Rhyne, the daughter's graduation party, Charles and Lisa get into a car accident while trying to avoid Christopher, Lisa's nephew. Lisa is killed.
    This sets up situations and complications to bring everyone together so they can argue and bicker, and of course, eventually reconcile. As the family gathers at the old family home, where Jane (Watson in the present, Panattiere in the past) now lives, old feelings are drudged over, and while going through their mother's things, Michael discovers a secret about his mother.
    Robert's and Watson play caring mothers. Lisa is passive, maybe too passive. Why she allows Charles to get away with some of the cruel things he does to the young Michael are confounding.
    Meanwhile, the film also glosses over the relationship between Jane and Michael, who are roughly the same age. That relationship is almost incestuous, although Lee never dares to fully delve into it.
    Everyone does solid work with their roles. Again a part of the technical solidity of the film. It's just that the story is too familiar, too flat. In the end, Dafoe has some moments of depth, and Reynolds gives a strong and layered performance. Otherwise, the script doesn't take enough time to flesh out its characters.
    Sure Michael has every reason to hate his father. He's a jerk, unabashedly so. The story needs to be maybe flushed out more, or maybe way less. There are stories enough for about three movies here. The plot line regarding young Christopher, who feels tremendous guilt over Lisa's death is enough for a film of this length. But there are so many other stories going on that it gets only limited time.
    There are some other small nitpicks that can be made. First, none of the kids look like their adult counterparts. That would be fine in a better movie, but here it's something you pick out. Second, although the film is set somewhere outside Chicago, it feels like somewhere in the south. Probably because it was shot in and around Texas.
    Based on a script that floated around Hollywood for sometime before getting financed, Fireflies in the Garden has floated around looking for a release since its debut back at the Berlin Film Festival. It's reported that the film will get a release come November. I suspect it will be limited, and suspect that it won't stick around theaters for long. Robert's might attract a few patrons to the multiplexes, but I wouldn't count on this one to make a big splash with anyone. I'm sure Lee has better in him.
  • rebvodka042099
    September 26, 2008
    rebvodka042099
    I loved this movie for the sole reason that it felt very familiar. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's highly emotional, rewarding, beautiful and simple that speaks into the heart of every one. The performances are wonderful -especially the ones by Ryan Reynolds and Wi...( read more)llem Dafoe.

    If I had to pinpoint certain drawbacks, though, I would have to say that this movie isn't a masterpiece because it poses a lot of questions that remain unanswered and the father-son collision remains unresolved until the very end.

    However, a great drama movie, easy to watch and easy to love.
  • LYNNWOODS04
    November 22, 2009
    LYNNWOODS04
    Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe



    Michael Taylor (Ryan Reynolds) is an author who has channeled his painful childhood memories into his novels. With some reluctance, he is flying home for his mother Lisa's (Julia Roberts) college graduation. After a lifetim...( read more)e of putting everyone else first, stroking her husband's (Willem Dafoe) massively insecure ego and raising her children in spite of that, it's Lisa's turn. What should be a moment of great celebration turns into a tragic reunion when Lisa is killed in a car accident, leaving father, son and family to pick up the pieces. While preparing for their mother's funeral, memories are relived and secrets are revealed which will test the family bond. After a childhood of hiding in his father's shadows, protected by his mother, Michael must confront his past and find an understanding of his family, his father and himself.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



    Love, Love, Loved this movie. The cast is amazing right down to the young children acting in it. Great performances by them all. It's a dark drama, and I am amazed it has taken me this long to see this movie since I am such a huge fan of Ryan Reynolds and Julia Roberts. The story goes back and forth from past to present and really does a great job at putting you in the story. It's an emotional roller coaster. Willem Dafoe was brilliant at playing the father, has to be his best performance in a movie that I have seen. It's just a beautifully made film. I will definitely be looking for this one on DVD.
  • andrewjohnwallace
    November 21, 2009
    andrewjohnwallace
    Liam Neeson kicks some serious ass!
  • WizardsOfWaverlyPlaceFan4Life
    November 19, 2009
    WizardsOfWaverlyPlaceFan4Life
    This sounds really sad.
  • blacksheepboy
    November 5, 2009
    blacksheepboy
    A dull and obvious family drama that suffers from some serious miscasting and presents lots of issues but never develops them properly.
  • lydiaofori
    October 10, 2009
    lydiaofori
    sound like a japense movies. love them

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