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Pretty Good

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Jennifer Morrison really shows that she is an under-utilized actor. In fact, both Jen and Jesse Spencer are 180-degrees from their inoffensive roles on House, MD. Surrounded by a wonderful ensemble of actors, they create a story that thrives on suspense and humor. A very deliberate, concise work with a steady tone.The writer/director demonstrates a high degree of authorship. And yet the writing idiosyncrasies are not self-conscious or showy. And the performances only elaborate on what's already there. Jennifer Morrison, in particular, seems self-possessed in the role -- living out and behaving each moment rather than 'acting' it.Further, this is a movie interested, it seems, in mise-en-scene rather than montage; fully bodied performances, fluid masters, and purposely under-cut. A movie that chooses long-take tableaux -- like an Altman film, or the Dardenne Brothers, or Gus van Sant -- over fragmentation via cutting. Pretty good stuff.

The director of this film, Kevin Palys, is clearly talented at writing clever dialogue, but understands little about cinematic structure. "Flourish" starts off promising, but quickly reveals itself as an amateurish effort that wanders aimlessly. A half hour passes by and we still don't know what the protagonist wants. Palys would be better suited for sitcom writing. Jennifer Morrison is an appealing actress, but Palys fails to get anything impressive out of her; his direction results in a mundane, forgettable performance. The cover design for the DVD is also appears to have been concocted at the last minute by an amateur graphic designer. I applaud Palys for making an effort and at least trying to engage his audience. However, his script would have benefited from several rewrites before production.

Written by Phoebe Raven, DVD Review, CC2K.When was the last time you went into a movie completely ignorant of its content when it started, yet halfway through you thought "This may be the best movie I have ever seen"? Flourish was like that for me. And while the thought was an exaggeration (but as exaggerations come and go it was one of the minor ones), Flourish sure was one of the best movies I have seen of late and among the most entertaining...I am extremely hesitant to continue with a plot summary of Flourish right now for several reasons.One being that I am not entirely sure I could provide one even if I tried. The story isn't all that intricate and complex, but so many little details are vital, and so many seeming coincidences have consequences, that to do a summary would take more time than any of us have.Another reason is that the movie is unbelievably fun and riveting when you have no clue what's going on, how it's going to end, or what's happening in between...And yet another reason for me not telling the story is to give you all even more incentive to go rent Flourish so you can corroborate or contradict my experiences with it....Jennifer Morrison has a history of playing the good girl so morally right and overall nice it can be enraging. Case in point: Dr. Allison Cameron. Well, Jennifer is anything but nice in this movie. She is hilarious, schizophrenic and utterly relatable yet. Her character Gabrielle is...not quite right in the head, to put it bluntly. More exactly, she has Korsakoff's syndrome, but still I connected to her character more than to a lot of characters I have seen before....There have been many movies over time trying to have multiple plot lines running at once and attempting to let them all come together through unexpected twists in the end (Crash anyone?) or movies where all of the sudden a minor detail from before becomes vital. Some of these movies have succeeded, others have failed. When creating a movie of this kind there are many traps and pitfalls to be avoided in the form of clichés, overused twists, obvious camera work (i.e. when the lighter is shown for five seconds for no apparent reason you already KNOW it's gonna be important later), but Flourish manages to steer clear of many if not, dare I say it, all of them.Some may accuse this film of being pointless and not building up to anything, but that is not true...The point eventually is revealed at the very end and we see why we were sent on the ride. Loose ends aren't exactly tied up, but simply because they were never meant to make a whole lot of sense in the first place. A woman with a mental condition is telling us a story, did we really believe it would make perfect sense in the end? But while many films would use insanity of a person as a cop-out to explain any slips in continuity or gaps in logic, Flourish decidedly avoids this. It never claimed to tell a coherent story. It is built on the fact that we KNOW Gabrielle is confused (to say the least) and yet tries to tell the story well. She explicitly says: "You have to tell it in a certain way, so that it sounds right... so it sounds realistical." Keeping that in mind you can actually be amazed at how coherent her story is.And if all of these content teasers aren't enticement enough to watch this film, then let me get back to my praise of Jennifer Morrison's work.Writer, director and producer Kevin Palys is a high school friend of Jennifer's, which is why she signed on to the project. And she turns out to be the perfect asset for a story so intricate it needed talent to be brought alive. This is not only accomplished by Jennifer, there is a great ensemble cast, but from the bunch, she sticks out. (Palys researched for two years before actually writing the script, and it paid off.) While the argument has been made on this site that it's always easier to play someone mentally unstable than Joe Average, Jennifer Morrison has an altogether refreshing take on it.It helps that her character Gabrielle isn't an outright loony, but her problem only flares up now and then. Heck, if you didn't know better Gabrielle might just be extremely quirky and weird. The brilliance of Jennifer Morrison lies in her body language. Particularly impressive are the inter-cut scenes of her talking to what we assume to be a doctor and telling her story. The way she adjusts her glasses (which she never wears in the rest of the film) and tries to pose right for the camera, changing her facial expression from earnest to kind to stern to sexy is pure genius. Her mimics in those scenes are endearing, confusing, funny and illustrative of what goes on in Gabrielle's head....As if all of this wasn't enough, among all these twists and turns of plot and stellar acting we also get a ton of humor and quotable one-liners. And which geek doesn't like those? Yes, this movie is genuinely funny is what I am saying. Clever word jokes plus awesome weirdness between characters resulted in several diaphragm-tickling-attacks over here on my end.Enough said, praised, lauded and drooled over. Go watch this movie! Now! I swear you'll be saying to your friends "You're getting my karate gi wet!" and complain to your wife "This towel is weird!" and when your very annoying co-worker returns from lunch you will say "Don't be done. Have fun, go back."...CC2K: http://www.cincity2000.com

I saw a screening of this film and it is indie film making at its best. It contains just the right elements of humor and suspense. The film was very well cast and the performances were very strong. There is also a great soundtrack provided by the voice of Jen Morrison and the original songs of Julian Sakata. In fact the song at the end flowed so well with the story that no one moved from their seats until the lights came up in the theatre. Very rare sight for an LA movie crowd. The Story moves very well. Its's interesting to watch all of the characters unwind, and there is something tragic and comedic about the whole thing. The Characters are interesting and really drive the story. Direction is solid. The script is well written. Great overall film.