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Dragonfly
MCA/Universal Pictures


6.7

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 18 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for thematic material and mild sensuality

Starring Kevin Costner, Kathryn Erbe, Kathy Bates, Meg Thalken, Susanna Thompson, Ron Rifkin, Joe Morton, and Jay Thomas

A supernatural drama about a doctor who believes his dead wife is communicating with him from the other side.

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	David Seltzer Brandon Camp (also story) Mike Thompson (also story)
DIRECTED BY:	Tom Shadyac
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: July 30, 2002 Video: July 30, 2002 Theatrical: February 22, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

In Costner's best moments, he makes us absolutely believe this character and feel his pain.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

At least Dragonfly isn't contemptible or altogether dismissible. But it doesn't use Costner well, and it even more unforgivably wastes Kathy Bates.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A sappy, often absurd disappointment, another would-be inspirational romance that, like Costner's overwrought "Message in a Bottle," is impossible to swallow.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Meandering and inert. Yet as an etching of an emotion and a vehicle for Costner, the movie makes a case for itself.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Eventually, though, the movie turns into a "Touched By An Angel" knockoff that dares us not to reach for a hankie while we succumb to its comforting message.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Costner is convincing as the hero, ably supported by Joe Morton as a short-tempered supervisor and Kathy Bates as a feisty neighbor. Dragonfly has little chance of "Ghost"-like popularity, though.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

When Kevin Costner goes into sensitive-guy mode, beware.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

A nitwit script, full of pedestrian dialogue and building to a laughable climax, dooms the picture.

New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson

Joe Morton, Linda Hunt and Kathy Bates show up in supporting roles, only to have Costner's flagging energy drag them down, too.

Washington Post Curt Fields

Comes across more like an above-average TV movie you might see on the Lifetime channel.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Though the film springs an okay twist at the very end, there's a good chance you won't be awake to see it.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Hollywood movies are rarely as contemptuous of the audience as Dragonfly, with its half-witted, treacly New Age sappiness and its mechanical borrowings from other, better supernatural thrillers.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Painstakingly painful.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Dragonfly has more plot than a figure-skating competition, and just about as much credibility.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is a tedious and insulting motion picture. The only ones likely to be surprised by the payoff are those who understandably dozed off fifteen minutes into the proceedings.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Dragonfly wants desperately to be the spiritual heir to "The Sixth Sense," but it's not even as effective a thriller.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

Despite the film's aspirations to soul healing, its uplift remains mechanical, like an escalator's.

Variety Joe Leydon

Costner's earnest performance is a major plus for Dragonfly, keeping the picture grounded in some semblance of reality even as it becomes progressively more fantastical.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Very little here begs to be paid attention to.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Costner has never been further from the lively, engaging actor he can be, or at least once was.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

No atmosphere, no tension -- nothing but Costner, flailing away. It's a buggy drag.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Preposterous-for-no-good-reason supernatural tale.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

A stinker of epic proportions.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A syrup-thick New Age ghost story of the same sappy stripe and mawkishness as another Costner foray, "Message in a Bottle."

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Costner has an uncanny aptitude for gravitating toward the dopiest projects in sight, but this time he's outdone himself.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

It's performances like these that make it so easy to forget that, when he wants to, Costner can indeed act and be an appealing star.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Hatched by screenwriters watching "The Sixth Sense" on methamphetamines

Slate David Edelstein

Linda Hunt's spooky nun speaks of "a hundred levels of consciousness" between death and full, earthbound awareness: Where on that continuum do the executives who green-lighted Dragonfly reside?

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The climax comes at you like a thrown cream pie, but given its faux-mythic nerve, it's tolerable. Too bad this latest station in Costner's ongoing self-crucifixion is such small potatoes until then.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Awash in cheap shocks and corny sentiment, Dragonfly aspires to be an inspirational thriller about one man's spiritual journey, but it takes little time for him to reach his destination. All that's left for him and the audience to do is solve a riddle unfit for the back of a cereal box.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

As the movie dragged on, I thought I heard a mysterious voice, and felt myself powerfully drawn toward the light -- the light of the exit sign. I have returned from the beyond to warn you: this movie is 90 minutes long, and life is too short.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Appalling, shamelessly manipulative and contrived, and totally lacking in conviction.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

I could puke.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Debbie J. gave it a10:
I love this movie and how he never gave up looking for what his wife was trying to tell him with her signs. "Trust and Have Faith And It's The Belief That Gets Us There." That's the best morale of a movie. Thanks.

Colleen L. gave it a 10:
Definately an orginal plot. Couldn't then and still can't get enough of it. I have recommended the film to many family and friends and they all agree and have also purchased the movie.

Marita F. gave it an 8:
I thought it was a very good movie. The end surprised me, but made everything come together. I rarely ever watch a movie twice, but I have this one. It's not a run-of-the-mill, fogettable movie like many others.

Katie P. gave it a 6:
Not that bad, but definitely not great either.

Rod R. gave it an 8:
A good story line, with a surprise ending, mixed with suspense and thrills in between.

Kc p gave it a 0:
By the time they arrived in guatemala i realized this is the worst movie i have ever seen, even worse tham mrs. doubtfire, damn that movie was horrible.

Some Enchanted Mulroneycakes gave it a 2:
He'd just got out of his downward slide, as well. Waterworld was a pretty good movie, but a good movie almost DESPITE Our Kev's presence. The Postman was a good idea for a 90-minute Boy-And-His-Dogesque black comedy. Shame it was a three hour I'm-Kevin-Costnerfest. Then there was Thirteen Days, and suddenly it seemed Kev had remembered what a Good Script looks like. Then Dragonfly came along. Oops. Good title. That's about all, though.

Dragonfly MCA/Universal Pictures

Dragonfly
MCA/Universal Pictures