Fireflies in the Garden (15)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An agonisingly sincere drama of familial dysfunction, this is notable for some very basic miscasting.
First up is Ryan Reynolds as a celebrated novelist returning to his midwestern home to find that he still can't stand his tyrannical father, Willem Dafoe. Reynolds, a decent comic actor, hasn't got the chops for this sensitive misfit, and Dafoe isn't convincing as the waspy patriarch who bullied him. Julia Roberts has a supporting role as the latter's wife, but her story is undermined by casting Ioan Gruffud as her too youthful paramour. Flashbacks to the protagonist's literary indiscretion carry a whiff of Tobias Wolff's novel Old School, though it lacks the book's charm. There just isn't enough to distinguish it from dozens of other damaged-family memoirs.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments