Fireflies In The Garden

Fireflies in the Garden is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Dennis Lee and starring Willem Dafoe, Ryan Reynolds, and Julia Roberts. It premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on October 14, 2011.

Fireflies in the Garden is set in the present day, and revolves around three generations of a family, with numerous memories of their childhood to their growing up. A major focus is on domineering father Charles and his strained relationships with son Michael, sister-in-law Jane and other family members.

A terrible accident on the way to a family reunion with Charles and wife Lisa at Jane's house, and the ensuing funeral set the scene for Michael to discover/uncover much about the inner lives and affairs of this family and finding a route to reconciliation.

Plot
The story moves back and forth between the adolescence and present of successful author Michael Taylor and his extended family: domineering father, English professor Charles "Charlie", his mother Lisa, his sister Ryne; as well as Lisa's much younger sister Jane (just older than Michael, act more like cousins ,instead of aunt and nephew, since their childhood), her husband James "Jimmy", their son Christopher and daughter Leslie. Included in the family mix is Michael's alcoholic ex-wife Kelly (Michael has only told Jane about the breakup).

Charles and Michael have always had quite a strained father-son relationship, with both pushing the other further away. In a flashback to a boyhood road trip, the younger Michael claims to have lost his glasses, knowing full well he has them in his pocket; Charles makes Michael walk home in the rain as a punishment. This tit-for-tat and rule-breaking continues with Charles imposing on all around him, including Jane, who is staying with them as Lisa is expecting a baby boy but was later a girl (Ryne). She, too, hates Charles' domineering nature and sides with Michael against him. When Michael embarrasses Charles in front of his colleagues by falsely claiming to have written a poem, Fireflies in the Garden by Robert Frost, he is punished by having to hold his weighted arms horizontal. Later, unable to lift his aching arms, Jane feeds him. The conflicts escalate, with Michael eventually intervening in a quarrel between his parents, attacking Charles and forcing him to the ground.

Events in the present are driven by a catastrophe. While college senior Ryne picks up Michael at the airport, Charles and Lisa are driving hurriedly to Jane's house for a party in honor of Lisa's college graduation. Charles swerves to avoid colliding with Christopher, retrieving a ball in the road, and their car hits a tree, killing Lisa and severely hurting Charles. The adult Ryne and Michael arrive moments later.

Michael attempts to cheer up Jane's children, telling them "Before your mother was a mom, she was my best friend." He takes them "fishing", exploding the caught fish with firecrackers, as he had done with Jane growing up. Concerned with what Charles and Jane will think, he encourages the children to lie to their mother about the firecrackers. Jane lovingly chastises Michael for making her kids lie, while Charles angrily chastises him for nearly everything he does. Michael having noisy sex with Kelly, who was notified by Jane about the funeral, does not help matters.

Christopher's guilt and anxiety over the accident cause him to run off one day. Michael sees him running through a field and assures him that he is not to blame for "Aunt" Lisa's death. Christopher insists on walking home alone after their talk. Christopher remains missing for several hours, Jane again blaming Michael, though he eventually deduces that Christopher is at the grave site. More revelations and recriminations ensue, as Michael discovers that his mother was having an affair with her younger professor Addison, and had planned to leave Charles following her graduation. Jane learns from Kelly that she is pregnant (explaining her recent sobriety) and that Michael doesn't know.

Michael has chosen the title of the Frost poem as the draft title of his upcoming book about his childhood. The book includes revelations of implied sexual misconduct between Charles and one of his students during Lisa's pregnancy. Charles' grief over the loss of Lisa, Michael's joy over his pending fatherhood, the happiness captured in a rare home movie with pregnant Lisa enjoying time with Charles, Michael and Jane help Charles and Michael begin to reconcile. No longer wanting to extend the harmful tit-for-tat with his father, Michael destroys the manuscript for his autobiography. Michael and Kelly then reconcile and they announce their news as soon-to-be parents to the family before they leave. While discussing baby names with Ryne and Kelly, Michael mentions that he likes the name "Max" for a boy; the name Lisa had intended if Ryne had been a boy.