Dragonfly on DVD

Kevin Costner has a spotty record with his movies.

It seems as if he's either left on the cutting room floor (though, admittedly, that was a long time ago), honored as a genius, or pilloried as a fool.

In Dragonfly, he's teamed with director Tom Shadyac and the result is a pretty nifty flick.

Joe Darrow (Costner) is a respected doctor whose wife is killed in an avalanche - and he's devasted.

But this is "the movies" and death isn't necessarily the end of life - or at least of one's appearances. So, some of Darrow's wife's former patients begin telling him that they've seen her, and that she's trying to to give him a message. This causes Joe, and others, to think he's starting to crack up.

He isn't, of course, and eventually he begins to understand what's going on. His final understanding, his "putting together the pieces" culminated in an ending that, while appropriate to the film, is still more than a tad predictable.

But that predictability doesn't spoil it, fortunately.

If you like a movie that makes you jump, Dragonfly is for you. It also has good suspense, except for the end. And, as is typical, Costner, does a good job.

The DVD is pretty good, too. The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) , is very good. Though much of the movie is very dark (it's a suspense flick, after all), the DVD's high resolution and rich color depth let you make out the details well, even when things get shadowy.

Universal has given us the choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround for our audio preference, and this is always nice to see - er, hear. The sound quality is very good, and the surrounds are put to good use as well - and they use the rear channels to make you jump out of your chair sometimes.

For extras, you're given a good audio commentary by director Tom Shadyac, a decent 13-minute Spotlight on Location featurette, some deleted scenes that aren't hard to see why they were deleted. There's also an interview with author Betty Eadie about her own near-death experience, and production notes and trailers.

Dragonfly, from Universal Home Video
105 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound
Starring Kevin Costner, Joe Morton, Linda Hunt, Ron Rifkin and Kathy Bates
Written by David Seltzer and Brandon Camp & Mike Thompson
Directed by Tom Shadyac

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