Flourish (2006)

Gaby Winters is desperate. In order to pick up some extra cash, she has agreed to babysit a precocious and smart assed 16 year old girl. But while Gaby is supposedly watching her, the rebellious girl mysteriously vanishes. Urgently needing to find the defiant girl before the parents come home, Gaby embarks on a wild adventure which leads her on a seemingly endless search, encountering numerous bewildering, amusing and sometimes dangerous characters.

We first meet Gaby being video recorded while she is recounting the story of her bizarre evening. As her tale becomes more and more embellished with myriad twisting subplots, it is impossible to determine what is true and what is a figment of Gaby's fertile imagination. But one thing is clear: her story is one of total chaos and anarchy.

Jennifer Morrison (TV's House) gives an audacious performance as Gaby, a young woman who yearns for the trust she has so assiduously failed to earn. As her storytelling spins more and more out of control, Gaby seeks to find answers to not only a situation but also a world that seems to have too many questions. Director Kevin Palys has created an original and surprising tale that warns that many layers have to be uncovered before one can seize control of an out-of-control situation.

Leighton Meester and Director succeed

This sleeper should wake people up soon...a fun mystery with awesome performances by Leighton Meester and Jennifer Morrison. A good time...and smart too. June 19, 2008

Entertaining film

Okay, so let's face it: when you start to watch an independent film you immediately know that it's not going to be a movie that is going to have neatly-wrapped plot lines. You also know that it is not going to be a simple film from beginning to end. This is just how the independent movie market works. With that said, I must state that I really enjoyed this film.

I'll admit that the reason I wanted to watch "Flourish" is because I am a big Jennifer Morrison fan and have come to hate the way the writers of "House" write her character Dr. Allison Cameron. I knew that if Morrison was given the chance to portray a character that was angst-ridden and not such a one-dimensional character that she would excel and indeed she did.

The movie starts off with Gabrielle (Morrison) being filmed at a psychiatric ward for a documentary. Throughout the film Gabrielle is telling the story of what happened the night Lucy, the teen she was babysitting, disappears and ultimately winds up dead. We are shown a cast of eccentric characters. We have Gabrielle who uses vocabulary which you may think sounds right and sounds smart, but is gramatically incorrect. Words like "realistical" and "logistically" are frequently used in the film. Other characters include Gabi's roommate who's in search of her stolen car to go run errands, the roommate's boyfriend who thinks his fiance is cheating on him, and a host of other eccentric, quirky, and downright entertaining characters that make this film one of the funniest indie films I have seen to date.

The thing about this film is not where it ends up, but the journey it takes to end up where it does. Is this a film that you're going to get from one viewing? No. Will multiple viewings help? Probably not. Does this detract from the all-around pleasure of viewing the film? Absolutely not. This film is filled with a mystery that will keep you on your toes and a dark humor that will make you chuckle and possibly laugh out loud multiple times.

Kudos to Jennifer Morrison for portraying a character that's supposed to be crazy and extremely flawed and making viewers relate to her due to her excellent acting.

So, bottom line, watch this film with an open mind you will definitely not be upset you watched it. You might even enjoy the chaotic journey and relate to it. If anything it will make you relieved to know that you can't be even half as dysfunctional as these wonderfully problematic characters. February 2, 2008

flourish

my friends and i really enjoyed this movie. it had a great storyline and was really funny. September 22, 2007

Flourish is a must-see

Jennifer Morrison (HOUSE) plays "Gabrielle" in this comical/suspenseful movie with miscommunications and mishaps. Amazon does a good job of telling the facts of the movie, so I'm not going to re-tell it here. Jennifer does an excellent job in playing this woman, who is note quite with it, in such a way that she is funny, sympathetic, and draws you in to her own little world. The cast works well together in trying to tell Gabrielle's story as she sees it. If you watch this movie with the intention of trying to figure it out as you watch it, don't. Keep in mind that Gabrielle is telling this story as she sees it and it resembles what a dream would be like. Everything is explained in the end in Gabrielle's interview. The guy who plays "Carter" in this double-role is hysterical. When I watched this movie a second time, I found it even more hysterical because I was trying to make more sense of it the first time rather than just let it entertain me. Of course "Eddie" (Jesse Spencer-HOUSE) does an excellent job playing his character, who, through misinformation, believes his fiance is cheating on him. I'm still trying to figure out how his karate belt went from red to green but figure it is from the amount of vehicles he has "beaten up" on his way to find the guy "doing" his girl, advanced him through the karate belt colors. "Bridget", Eddie's fiance, does an excellent job in trying to deal with Gabrielle, as well as "Lucy" the spoiled bratty teenager poor Gabrielle has to deal with. Let's not forget "Mary" who is trying to be a good Christian but has a difficult time between good and evil. Congrats to all involved in putting together this movie. It is a little different than what you normally see, which is what I think is the interest. The more you watch it, the funnier this movie gets. Jennifer Morrison is just outstanding. Good job Kevin Palys in putting all this together. I hope this movie gets the recognition it deserves! January 5, 2007

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