War Flowers

Why did Ricci and Berenger agree to do this film? I really like both actors and muddled through this one. You get the distinct impression the actors showed up on day one and catering was a bucket of KFC chicken. I watched on TUBI and was dumbfounded to learn this film had a theatrical release. Did someone misappropriate the budget for this film? The acting, special effects, costumes, historical accuracy, and reenactments are SO bad. It's like a made for television movie, but one not quite good enough for the Hallmark Channel.

I gave it a 3 because the script was OK. You wonder with a proper budget IF the outcome would have been different. I would LOVE to watch Ricci in a big budget Civil War epic BUT this one just misfired on almost every level. This was just wasted performances against what could have been an interesting story. It fills me with utter sadness.

If you are looking for a CIVIL WAR extravaganza (The Patriot) with all kinds of CGI battle scenes, or an overblown romance (Gone With the Wind), this won't be the movie for you. It is a simple family romance with a Civil War backdrop. I found it touching, especially the little girl, seven year old Melody played by Gabrielle Popa. The cinematography and story are beautifully muted. For whatever reason I got the same feeling from the movie that I do from early Little House on the Prairie episodes.

One or more of the reviews complains that the acting by Cristina Ricci and the little girl Gabrielle Popa was horrible. For the first ten minutes or so I might have agreed but as I became comfortable with movement of the plot I found that I loved Melody's character. She was a smart, strong little girl character and as far away from many of today's glitzy charismatic child stars as can be. I loved her plainness, her questions, and the sadness she felt while hiding the sadness she felt.

Anyway, I have a feeling that if you like family drama/romance and remember Little House on the Prairie fondly, War Flowers will be a soft, enjoyable hour and a half.

This film is a combination of a war and a Hallmark movie. Some parts are somewhat accurate to the time such as some uniforms. Others were not hidden well. Or changed to draw in more people in. This film is about a wife/mother Sara Elizabeth, whose husband goes off to the civil war to fight. She waits for him at their house with her daughter Melody, of course there has to be drama so some battles break out near their house. A soldier is injured and goes to their cellar. They find him and care for him. As he stays he falls for Sara Elizabeth. She refuses to get involved with him even though she has feelings for him, to stay true to her husband. After healing he goes home. There is more drama and surprises but that would spoil the movie.

This film tells the story of a young woman and her daughter living in a farm house, waiting for the man of the house to return from the civil war.

I am rather surprised by how bad "War Flowers" is. The opening battle scene is supposed to be impressive, but it gives me the impression that it is a bad made for TV movie. The story is slow and quite uneventful, maybe it is because they are in a very small town where nothing happens. Then, an enemy soldier arrives and turns things upside down. The romance is so unbelievable and poorly built up, that I find it ridiculous that they would fall for each other. Another poorly constructed storyline is the daughter talking about how the father would come back. And another annoying thing is that people talk so slowly in the film that it doesn't even sound realistic. Poor Christina Ricci, she has starred in more than her fair share of bad movies in recent years. I hope her next film will be better!

The story was good and I feel they tried to do it justice but the acting was poor. The little girl was terrible. Being a born and bred Southerner the fake accents made me cringe but that doesn't stop me from watching Southern themed movies. This just lacked everything: good acting, good directing and emotion equal to the plot. The only redeeming quality is that there is nothing offensive in the move other than the typical violence of Civil War action and it was not particularly graphic-- no bad language, no sex scenes nor nudity. I would love to see this story done by good actors and maybe better directing. I don't recommend it unless you are bored to death and need something to pass 98 minutes of your time.