Fireflies In The Garden

Fireflies in the Garden (Robert Frost)

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,

Such a poorly executed ending to a film would be a shame not to note here for posterity.

And here on earth come emulating flies,

Fireflies In The Garden begins so well, if you don’t mind a bit of maudlin with the studied cinematography that continues to carry it throughout, featuring carefully-shot close-ups of the physical and human landscape that create a counterpoint to the chasms between many of the characters.

That though they never equal stars in size,

The stars rise to the challenge with domineering father, Charles (Willem Dafoe) and strangely patient wife, Lisa (Julia Roberts) switching between their younger and older selves as the narrative time-frame shifts. The story focuses on their brainy son Michael, played very well as an angry adult (Ryan Reynolds) but arguably even better as an abused child by Cayden Boyd. Michael’s Aunt Jane is, on the contrary, better played by Emily Watson as an adult, although still credibly performed by Hayden Panettiere as an adolescent. Carrie-Anne Moss puts in a quiet but solid performance as Michael’s wife.

(And they were never really stars at heart)

Unlike the subjects of the eponymous poem, the cast are obviously putting their heart and souls into the first 89 minutes of this film.

Achieve at times a very star-like start.

Shifting between memories of childhood and the current day, when a tragic accident has thrown them all together again; the undercurrents of family secrets and enmities are tangible forces pushing and pulling people apart. Something shocking clearly lies beneath the surface, as the film slowly, with a mixture of heavy and light touches, moves towards its close.

Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

Sadly, as it approaches its denouement the film jumps in tone and character positioning, as if the penultimate reel was lost in the post and the film-makers just rammed the final 10 minutes on. What actually happened in this family, and why a reconciliation was possible, really remains a mystery to us. Four stars for the engaging beginning, zero for the head-scratching ending, let’s give it two stars all up.

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