Flourish (2006)

	Todd C.

4 out of  4  people found this review helpful

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, Flourish sure was one of the best movies I have seen of late and among the most entertaining. 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 on House, M.D. Well, Jennifer is anything but nice in this movie. She is hilarious, schizophrenic and utterly relatable yet. 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.

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	Kate S.

4 out of  4  people found this review helpful

Flourish DVD Film Review By Ed Hulse 10/30/2006 @ Video Business: A reasonably clever mystery/ comedy hybrid that echoes Martin Scorsese's After Hours, Flourish has an Alice in Wonderland vibe that keeps it amusing even when innumerable plot complications and bizarre characters threaten to send it spiraling into incoherence. Gaby's odyssey brings her in contact with an unlikely spy, an exploited fiancée, a philandering military man, his pious mistress and other oddballs. At the finish, several questions remain unanswered, but that hardly matters. This neatly turned out indie is one of those films that isn't about the destination but the journey.

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	Baily G.

3 out of  3  people found this review helpful

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.

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