Fireflies In The Garden

There appear to be two Ryan Reynolds in the world – one who makes trashy, pond-life comedies like Waiting and the fizzy but empty Smokin’ Aces, and the other sensitive, art-house version who starred in the excellent The Nines and this thoughtful, frank drama. It’s a shame he feels the need to make the popcorn stuff as on the evidence of The Nines and here, this material suits him better.
The opening sequence of Fireflies In The Garden reveals his character Michael – clearly a successful enough writer for a fellow flight passenger to ask for his autograph, but equally obviously he’s unhappy. Returning home for a family function, the sudden death of his mother Julia Roberts throws him into a face-off with bullying, possibly psychotic dad Willem Dafoe. Only his aunt, Emily Watson, appears to be on his side as Michael tries to confront his childhood memories of a ‘perfect’ mother and angry father.

This kind of confessional drama always seems to come from a good place, but there are slightly conflicting feelings emerging here. While the scenes with the young Michael being mercilessly bullied by his terrifying dad are undoubtedly powerful, the suggestion of a sexual relationship between him and his aunt are raised but never resolved. Some moments border on the bizarre – Michael, on being told to write up the house rules by his control-freak father, is then told “You have beautiful penmanship”. His mother’s funeral provides a moment of comedy as he and girlfriend Carrie-Anne Moss get carried away upstairs while a moment’s silence is being held downstairs. Michael is resolving his issues by writing a book, but to then suggest he will abandon it to keep his family happy rings false.

It’s a story which relies heavily on the performances, and these are uniformly excellent. Julia Roberts looks suitably frail as the saintly mother, Dafoe is chillingly credible as angry dad, and Emily Watson does well with a slightly under-written role as the aunt. But its Reynolds who holds the whole thing together, scruffily trying to piece together his childhood while moving on as an adult. He’s just likeable enough without moving towards the melodramatic – something the film itself is guilty of.

Overall Verdict: Affecting personal drama with superb performances all round, especially Reynolds and Defoe.

Reviewer: Mike Martin