One out of
five stars
Running time: 104 mins
Abysmal film that’s an embarrassment to all concerned – you thought Costner couldn’t make a film worse than The Postman? You were wrong…
Poor old Kevin Costner – after last year’s Thirteen Days, it actually looked as if he was back on track and making decent movies again. Sadly, this was not to be, as his two follow-ups have been this and the equally appalling 3000 Miles To Graceland (which is almost certainly destined to go straight-to-video). However, he cannot take all the blame, as Ace Ventura director Tom Shadyac is clearly well out of his depth when it comes to directing –ahem- “serious” drama.
The Plot
Mr. Kevin plays hospital doctor Joe Darrow, whose wife has recently died while on a mercy mission in the mountains of Venezuela. However, the body has not been recovered and Darrow finds himself unable to grieve, over-working himself to the point of a nervous breakdown. And then his pet parrot (yes, that’s right, pet parrot) starts squawking “Honey, I’m home!”, which is strange because, you see, this is exactly what it used to do when Costner’s wife came home.
Eventually, he starts to think that his wife is trying to communicate
something to him via people who have had near-death experiences. This
involves strange drawings and dragonflies, but, given that the majority of those that are “seeing dead people” are photogenically sick children, it begins to look more and more like a desperate attempt to evoke The Sixth Sense.
In the end, after what seems like an eternity, Darrow travels to the jungle for a mind-bogglingly ridiculous finale that will have you choking with disbelief. What’s worse is that it’s played with such a serious, reverential tone that it’s clear that Shadyac intended it to be a truly tear-jerking moment.
The Acting
Costner's acting does nothing to help matters. In fact he looks every inch as if he's fully aware how bad the film is and is hoping no-one will notice - you can practically see the fear in his eyes.
Ultimately, the film is boring, predictable, agonisingly slow and full of appalling lines such as “This isn’t heaven – this is rainbows!” Even the presence of reliable character actors Joe Morton and Kathy Bates (as Costner’s friendly lesbian neighbour) fail to inject any interest. A film to be publicly shunned.