Harrison's Flowers (2000)

48% of critics liked it
(83 reviews)
74% of users liked it
(4,615 ratings)

French director Elie Chouraqui adapts the novel of the same name into this drama, that, although set in 1991, became tragically topical in the weeks before its release due to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah, a photo editor for Newsweek and the… More French director Elie Chouraqui adapts the novel of the same name into this drama, that, although set in 1991, became tragically topical in the weeks before its release due to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah, a photo editor for Newsweek and the happily married wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn). Harrison has been reconsidering his career of covering the world's war zone "hot spots" in order to spend more time with his family, and is accused by his colleague, Kyle (Adrien Brody), of playing it too safe in his risky profession. Harrison elects to accept one more combat assignment to cover the simmering tensions in Croatia, a conflict that quickly erupts into a full-scale, genocidal Civil War. Informed that Harrison is believed to have been killed in the fighting, Sarah refuses to accept her husband's death and becomes convinced that she's seen him, alive, in a news broadcast. She travels to Croatia on a quest to find him, and is eventually aided by Kyle, as well as two of Harrison's other colleagues, Yeager (Elias Koteas) and Stevenson (Brendan Gleeson). The group, armed with cameras instead of weapons, witnesses the horrors and atrocities unfolding in the region, while tracing the elusive path of Harrison, who may well be dead already. Harrison's Flowers was distributed by Universal Focus, the art house division of Universal Pictures that previously released Mulholland Drive (2001) and Billy Elliott (2000). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 10 min.
Directed By: Elie Chouraqui
Written By: Elie Chouraqui, Michael Katims, Isabel Ellsen
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Mar 15, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Jan 21, 2003
Studio: Universal Focus

Critic Reviews

Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
The movie too often works against itself, pitting an increasingly implausible story with Chouraqui's hard-core realism.
Loren King, Chicago Tribune
A powerhouse of a film about modern journalism and war.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Director Elie Chouraqui, who co-wrote the script, catches the chaotic horror of war, but why bother if you're going to subjugate truth to the tear-jerking demands of soap opera?
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
It's part travelogue in Hell, part ineffectual weepie.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
It's the unsettling images of a war-ravaged land that prove more potent and riveting than the unlikely story of Sarah and Harrison.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Remarkable for its power to immerse us in the terror, panic and sheer adrenalized rush of the photojournalist's existence.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
While a previous European DVD release of Harrison's Flowers included a bunch of special features, Lions Gate's 2007 release comes with none.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
Built on a foundation of melodrama and implausible coincidence, Harrison's Flowers is a movie that looks far better on paper than it does onscreen.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
A stronger actress, say Michelle Pfeiffer or Cate Blanchette, would have given this political melodrama more credibility and power, but Andie MacDowell is poorly cast and she seems lost.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
When describing an Andie MacDowell movie, the words "gritty" and "harrowing" do not immediately spring to mind.
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Acutely shows the pain and horror war inflicts on regular people.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
Lacking gravitas, MacDowell is a placeholder for grief, and ergo this sloppy drama is an empty vessel. Leave these Flowers unpicked -- they're dead on the vine.
Tyler Hanley, Palo Alto Weekly
Hope, desperation and the ugliness of ethnic cleansing intersect elegantly in director Elie Chouraqui's intense retelling of the 1991 Croatian-Serbian conflict in Yugoslavia.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
...overly melodramatic...
Manohla Dargis, L.A. Weekly
Visceral, unrelenting, affecting and, as often, exasperating.
Jean Lowerison, San Diego Metropolitan
Utterly predictable and idiotically scripted by writer/director Elie Chouraqui.
Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer
Ultimately, Sarah's dedication to finding her husband seems more psychotic than romantic, and nothing in the movie makes a convincing case that one woman's broken heart outweighs all the loss we witness.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
This story of a determined woman's courage to find her husband in a war zone offers winning performances and some effecting moments.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Cast

            Andie MacDowell as Sarah Lloyd

            David Strathairn as Harrison Lloyd

            Elias Koteas as Yeager Pollack

            Adrien Brody as Kyle Morris

            Brendan Gleeson as Marc Stevenson

            Alun Armstrong as Samuel Brubeck

            Caroline Goodall as Johanna Pollack

            Diane Baker as Mary Francis

            Gerard Butler as Chris Kumac

            Marie Trintignant as Cathy

            Christian Charmettant as Jeff

            Christopher Clarke as David

            Kurt Cramer as CNN Journalist

            Bela Grushka as Nina Portnoy

            Michael Rogers as Canadian Cameraman

            Bruce Solomon as Rabbi

            Dale Wyatt as Mistress of Ceremony

            Slobodan Milovanovic as Base Commander

            Jessica Horvathova as HTV Interviewer

            Corey Johnson as Peter Francis

            Scott Michael Anton as Cesar Lloyd

            Dragan Antonic as Chetnik

            Marie-Beatrice Bernert as Austrian Woman

            Predrag Bjelac as Doctor in Vukovar

            Antony Boehm as Freddy

            Nicole Estabrooks as Journalist 4

            Francis Simon as Layout Technician

            Milan Gargula as Katzman

            Rich Gold as Journalist 1

            Amy Huck as Cybil

            Joel Kirby as Michael

            Rianne Kooiman as Newsweek Journalist

            Liliana Krstic as Old Woman

            Gregory Linington as Journalist 2

            Mirko Medenica as Croatian Officer

            Deborah Michaels as Journalist 3

            Sasa Nikolitch as Chtiomac

            Zivko Petrov as Nustar Peasant

            Dragan Radivojevic as Sniper

            Quinn Shepherd as Margaux Lloyd

            Joel Sugarman as Nelson
See full cast

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