Harrison's Flowers

Harrison's Flowers () is a war-romance drama from 2000, directed by Elie Chouraqui and featuring performances by Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Brendan Gleeson, Adrien Brody, and David Strathairn. The film debuted at the 2000 San Sebastián International Film Festival and was released in France on January 24, 2001. It later received a limited theatrical run in the United States through Universal Pictures on March 15, 2002, followed by a DVD release from Lionsgate Films in 2007.

The American edition was trimmed by approximately five minutes and included a newly composed score by Cliff Eidelman. Despite an $8 million production cost, the movie earned only $3 million globally and garnered mixed reviews from critics. Nevertheless, Adrien Brody acknowledged that his role in this film contributed to him landing the lead in The Pianist, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

On November 26, 2024, Kino Lorber Studio Classics released the film on Blu-ray for the first time.

A significant factual inaccuracy appears when Brody’s character mistakenly claims that Croats are Orthodox Christians and Serbs are Catholics, an error left uncorrected.

Plot

Harrison Lloyd is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for Newsweek who is believed dead during his last assignment amid the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. His wife Sarah journeys to Vukovar in search of him and witnesses the tragic events of the Vukovar massacre. Back home, Harrison’s son Cesar manages his father’s greenhouse.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 49% approval rating, with reviewers appreciating its authentic depiction of war but criticizing the romantic subplot. It received a Metacritic score of 49 out of 100 based on 31 critic reviews.