"Harrison's Flowers" tells of the wife (MacDowell) of a renowned photo-journalist (Strathairn) who refuses to believe her husband was killed while on assignment in war ravaged Yugoslavia and travels through hell to find him. The film parses into a setup where we see what a loving family life the protag's have; a long stretch in the middle where MacDowell dodges bullets and bombs through Balkan countryside; and the wind-down/wrap-up at the end. The film shows the horrors of ethnic cleansing and the role of the wildcat photo-journalist on the front line of war reporting. However, MacDowell spends most of her time doing little more than running from pillar to post as the family drama wanders into and then back out of a war flick milieu. An okay watch for anyone who wants to revisit combat in the Balkans but a disappointment for those who are expecting a story about an estranged married couple. (B-)
Review of Harrison's Flowers
