The strength of Fireflies in the Garden undoubtedly lies in its casting, although [Dennis] Lee directs his starry cast with confidence and flair and this should lead on to bigger and better things for the young film-maker.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 30, 2019

One of those dysfunctional family melodramas in which a dysfunctional family gets all melodramatic, and here is what I would say to this family if I could: "Get over it or, failing that, go away and bother someone else."

| Aug 29, 2018

Uneven drama about unhappy family, including tragedy.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 29, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 18, 2012

This histrionic family drama must have looked good on paper to attract such a big-name cast, but on the screen it comes off as glib, rushed, and underdeveloped.

| Oct 20, 2011

Julia Roberts plays ultra-sensitive artiste Ryan Reynolds' noble mother-and that should basically tell you all you need to know about this misguided soapy bunch of bollocks which somehow made its way off the shelf into theatres.

| Oct 14, 2011

This locally shot weeper is unhappy in myriad ways, few of which manage to coalesce around its heart-stung core.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 14, 2011

The emotional effectiveness varies from moment to moment between not pushing too hard or simply not pulling hard enough.

| Oct 14, 2011

This stale drama is finally getting a limited release and will prove just how limited it is to the poor saps who pay to see it.

| Original Score: 1.0/5.0 | Oct 14, 2011

A dreadful exercise in navel-gazing that resides in a particularly trite corner of Pat Conroy-ville.

| Oct 14, 2011

A dispiriting rehash of dysfunctional family clichés that seems to last longer than Thanksgiving Day dinner.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Oct 14, 2011

An unrelentingly grim drama about yet another dysfunctional family.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 14, 2011

Just when you're hitting your tolerance breaking point for these people and their nonstop bellyaching and yelling and baffling hatred for one another, the equally baffling reconciliation kicks in. What just happened?

| Original Score: 0/5 | Oct 14, 2011

The constant shifting between past and present is handled so badly that it adds absolutely nothing to the proceedings.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 14, 2011

It just comes off a little false.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 14, 2011

The relationships are lived-in and complex, with the same hopelessness that we find in real life. People don't change.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 13, 2011

Lee doesn't trust his storytelling or the audience.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 13, 2011

"Fireflies" is probably too convoluted to pave the way for more roles of this sort, but watching Reynolds get inside Michael's pain, you hope it won't be long until something will.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 13, 2011

Those who naturally gravitate to this syrupy genre shouldn't be disappointed, as Fireflies in the Garden is consistent with tender moments and agonized recollections.

| Original Score: B- | Oct 13, 2011

Has all the personality and forward momentum of a cardboard box.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Oct 13, 2011