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Movies / On DVD / Harrison's Flowers
Harrison's Flowers

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Harrison's Flowers (2002)

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Reviews Counted:84

Fresh:41

Rotten:43

Average Rating:5.6/10

Consensus: Though it presents the war in shockingly gritty, realistic terms, Harrison's Flowers uses such scenes as background for a trite love story.

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Andie MacDowell is phenomenal as Sarah Lloyd, a devoted wife and mother who goes to former Yugoslavia to find her husband Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn) when he disappears and is assumed dead.... Andie MacDowell is phenomenal as Sarah Lloyd, a devoted wife and mother who goes to former Yugoslavia to find her husband Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn) when he disappears and is assumed dead. Sarah and Harrison share a deep love and understanding, but Harrison, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo journalist, is frequently away on business and the family is starting to suffer. He takes an assignment in the former Yugoslavia, promising Sarah he'll be back for their son's birthday, but he never returns. Knowing in her gut that he's alive, Sarah journeys to find him and discovers the insanity and horror of war. The strength of HARRISON'S FLOWERS lies in its nuanced performances and strong cinematography. Andie MacDowell is alternately gentle, irrational, compassionate, and fierce and her eyes reflect a quiet intensity that's mesmerizing. Adrien Brody's depiction of Kyle, a cynical, drug-addicted photo journalist, is maddening and engaging. His transformation from a bitter, self-centered, wannabe hot shot photographer into Sarah's loyal friend is heartbreaking. The battle scenes are brutal and shocking and reveal the kinds of risks that journalists take when they aggressively pursue a story. Nicola Pecorini's filming captures the finest details as if every moment were a fleeting memory. [More]

Starring: Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Gerard Butler, Adrien Brody

Starring: Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Gerard Butler, Adrien Brody, Marie Trintignant, David Strathairn, Brendan Gleeson, Alun Armstrong, Christopher Clarke

Director: Elie Chouraqui

Director: Elie Chouraqui
Screenwriter: Elie Chouraqui, Michael Katims, Isabel Ellsen
Producer: Albert J. Cohen
Composer: Bruno Coulais, Pascal Obispo
Studio: Universal Focus

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Reviews for Harrison's Flowers

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
11/19/08
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/05/08
David Rooney
David Rooney
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
07/11/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

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.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
10/30/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
02/01/04
FilmStew.com

When describing an Andie MacDowell movie, the words "gritty" and "harrowing" do not immediately spring to mind.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
11/09/03
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Acutely shows the pain and horror war inflicts on regular people.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
10/03/03
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

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.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
05/27/03
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today

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.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Tyler Hanley
Tyler Hanley
Palo Alto Weekly

...overly melodramatic...

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/30/03
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Visceral, unrelenting, affecting and, as often, exasperating.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
01/20/03
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
L.A. Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/18/03
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
12/17/02
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

Utterly predictable and idiotically scripted by writer/director Elie Chouraqui.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
10/21/02
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

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.

Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment Comment
10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Journal News (Westchester, NY) | comment Comment
09/18/02
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Journal News (Westchester, NY)

This story of a determined woman’s courage to find her husband in a war zone offers winning performances and some effecting moments.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/27/02
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

The movie too often works against itself, pitting an increasingly implausible story with Chouraqui's hard-core realism.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
08/09/02
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

A powerhouse of a film about modern journalism and war.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
07/20/02
Loren King
Loren King
Chicago Tribune
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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