Harrisons Flowers (2002)

"...a hard-hitting narrative...powerful drama...harrowing re-creation of the brutal chaos of war.  David Rooney, Variety
"...[MacDowell] gives a solid, anguished performance...  Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
"Stark and gripping...  Tony Toscano, Talking Pictures

Editor's Note 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.

	Adrien Brody
	Andie MacDowell
	Brendan Gleeson
	Elias Koteas
	Albert Cohen, et. al. - Producer
	Bruno Coulais - Original Music By
	Cliff Eidelman - Original Music By
	Elie Chouraqui - Director
	Elie Chouraqui, et. al. - Screenplay
	Emmanuelle Castro - Editor
	Giantito Burchiellaro - Production Designer
	Isabel Ellsen - Based On Book By
	Jacques Witta - Editor
	Martin Martinec - Art Director
	Nicola Pecorini - Cinematographer

Box Office
"...HARRISON'S FLOWER is a stirring tribute to the bravery and dedication of the world's reporters who willingly walk into the nightmare of war..." 03/01/2002 p.56

Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...The battle scenes have a shocking immediacy, and the entire cast is excellent..." 04/01/2002 p.41

Rolling Stone
"...[Chouraqui] catches the chaotic horror of war..." 04/11/2002 p.137

USA Today
"...The movie delivers a powerful anti-war message with shattering scenes of the devastation wrought in Croatia..." 03/15/2002 p.6E

ReelViews 8 of 10
Even today, with Slobodan Milosevic awaiting trial for crimes against humanity, most U.S. citizens understand neither the extent nor the gravity of the atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia during the bloody revolution that turned a country into a charnel house. One reason for the apparent apathy is a lack of understanding - brief, horrific images on CNN are not conducive to grasping a situation of social, cultural, and political upheaval. An even greater consideration is distance. Yugoslavia is half a world away, and, to many people, as remote as Mars...Harrison's Flowers offers a glimpse of what happened in 1991 as Milosevic bulldozed his way into power over the corpses of his enemies, while sounding a cautionary note that, in today's shrinking world, no conflict is so distant that its ripples cannot be felt in our homes. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
Harrison's Flowers is not based on fact but plays like one of those movies that is, and the scenes of carnage are so well-staged and convincing that they make the movie's story even harder to believe. Strong performances also work to win us over, wear us down and persuade us to accept this movie as plausible. Who we gonna believe, the screenplay or our lyin' eyes?...As for the war itself, the movie exhibits the usual indifference to the issues involved. Although it was written and directed by Elie Chouraqui, a Frenchman, it is comfortably xenophobic. - Roger Ebert