Plot

In this supernatural thriller, Kevin Costner plays Joe Darrow, a physician mourning the death of his wife Emily (Susannah Thompson) in a bus accident in South America, where she was providing medical outreach. Wracked by grief, Joe works extra shifts at the hospital to take his mind off the tragedy, but the intense workload triggers his short temper and some careless mistakes. His officious boss (Joe Morton) forces Joe to take time off, but Joe feels obligated to check in on his wife's pediatric patients, fulfilling a promise he made before she left. Visiting the ward, Joe starts to believe that Emily is using the near-death experiences of her terminal patients to communicate with him, through images the children report seeing in their dreams, and symbols they are inexplicably compelled to draw. While the children see Joe as a kindred spirit, the hospital staff worries about how these interactions are agitating them. At home, Joe begins finding other ethereal evidence of his wife's attempt to contact him from beyond the grave, some of it featuring the image of a dragonfly, which was the shape of the birthmark on her shoulder. His friends and a caring neighbor (Kathy Bates) worry that Joe is losing his marbles, especially as his quest becomes more frantic, putting his job in jeopardy. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Review

In Dragonfly, Tom Shadyac stays in the medical milieu he first visited in Patch Adams, but instead of syrupy comedy, this time he's dosing out Sixth Sense-style chills. The director's genre shift from broad comedy to horror lite is comfortable enough, but don't expect to see this one ringing up the cash registers like his previous efforts. Despite a fine performance by Kevin Costner as the unraveling widower and a number of effective startle scares, Dragonfly must be seen as a very minor work, lacking in specific urgency. It is nice, though, to see Costner playing within himself, ditching the botched accents and period garb and being willing to go grumpy and temperamental. While Dragonfly has a reasonably unpredictable and fulfilling payoff, it takes a lot of interchangeable scenes of cancerous children acting as spooky mediums to get there. And, let's be honest, some of the startle scares are obvious retreads, like the lifeless hand springing awake to clutch the nearest arm. Shadyac may have closely followed M. Night Shyamalan's blueprint for postmodern spiritual horror, right down to having veteran cameraman Dean Semler emulate those bluish hues from The Sixth Sense. But the story of Joe and Emily Darrow is not quite involving enough, despite all those effortful scenes of supernatural symbolism. For the more sentimental viewers, the end will probably justify the means, but others may feel trifled with. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast

• Kevin Costner - Dr. Joe Darrow
• Kathy Bates

Lisa Banes - Flora; Matt Craven - Erich; Kathryn Erbe; Linda Hunt - Sister Madeline; Joe Morton; Ron Rifkin; Jay Thomas - Hal; Jacob Vargas - Pilot; Susanna Thompson; Jacob Smith - Ben; Paul Gutrecht - Simon; Alison Lohman - Megan; Robert Bailey Jr. - Jeffrey Reardon

Credit

Alan B. Curtiss - Art Director, Jim Nedza - Art Director, Alan B. Curtiss - Associate Producer, Janet L. Wattles - Associate Producer, Arlene Kehela - Associate Producer, Judy Ruskin-Howell - Costume Designer, Tom Shadyac - Director, Don Zimmerman - Editor, James D. Brubaker - Executive Producer, Michael Bostick - Executive Producer, John Debney - Composer (Music Score), Linda de Scenna - Production Designer, Dean Semler - Cinematographer, Gary Barber - Producer, Roger Birnbaum - Producer, Mark Johnson - Producer, Tom Shadyac - Producer, Dee De Antonio - Sound/Sound Designer, Brandon Camp - Screen Story, Mike Thompson - Screen Story, David Seltzer - Screenwriter, Brandon Camp - Screenwriter, Mike Thompson - Screenwriter, Jon Farhat - Visual Effects Supervisor, David Lowery - Storyboard Artist, Ric Mcelvin - Set Decorator

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