Kathy Bates Teamed Up With Kevin Costner For His Strange Supernatural Mystery Flop

Kevin Costner was in a rough patch at the start of the 21st century. Though he'd scored a box office hit with the Nicholas Sparks adaptation "Message in a Bottle" in 1999, he struck out with the baseball drama "For Love of the Game" that same year and suffered another flop with "Thirteen Days" the year after. Still in his 40s and very much his movie star prime, a comeback was perpetually around the corner; the problem, however, was that he seemed to have lost his knack for picking projects that connected with mainstream moviegoers. He'd also acquired a reputation for either second-guessing his directors or flat-out steamrolling them if they challenged him. (He'd even given Clint Eastwood trouble while making "A Perfect World.) As such, A-list filmmakers were reluctant to work with him.

After the debacle that was "The Postman," studios weren't keen to let Costner get back behind the camera, so he was stuck making unpromising movies like "3000 Miles to Graceland." This is when "Dragonfly" came along. Written by Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson, it was a relatively hot project given its beyond-the-grave love story (which called "Ghost" to mind). Tom Shadyac, a fellow who was then best known as the director of zany comedies like "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Nutty Professor," and "Liar, Liar," did not seem like an ideal hire for this film, but, then again, the same was true of Jerry Zucker when he boarded "Ghost."

Universal gave "Dragonfly" a substantial $60 million budget, hoping it'd hit the weepie thriller goldmine. From there, Shadyac and casting directors Elizabeth Marks and Debra Zane assembled a tremendously talented cast that included Kathy Bates, Joe Morton, Ron Rifkin, and Linda Hunt, which seemingly spoke to the strength of the material. Alas, it was a total wipeout.

"Dragonfly" is a deeply spiritual film that centers on Joe Darrow (Costner), a doctor who is being inexplicably haunted by his recently deceased wife, Emily (Susanna Thompson), through patients at the hospital where they both worked. Joe becomes convinced that he's speaking with Emily because these interactions involve the invocation of dragonflies, which is significant because Emily had a dragonfly birthmark on her shoulder. Everyone in Joe's orbit, including his lawyer neighbor (Bates), believe he's having grief-stricken hallucinations, but he can't deny what he's experiencing.

Why would Emily be trying to reach him from the afterlife? Is he in danger? Was she somehow saved despite what he's been told? Might this have something to do with the child she was carrying at the time of her death? Hmmmmm.

"Dragonfly" clumsily telegraphs its big twist, but it's just far too silly to take seriously in the first place (even with a rewrite from screenwriting veteran David Seltzer, best known for "The Omen"). Shadyac, who is a devout Catholic, is clearly invested in this material, but he doesn't have the skill to pull it off. Meanwhile, the film's attempts at horror are laughably tepid.

The movie's actors do the best they can, but, narratively and thematically, "Dragonfly" is a complete and total failure. The film proved to be yet another flop for Costner and has been all but forgotten. I sincerely doubt a critical reappraisal is in the offing. As for Costner, he would bounce back with the superb Western "Open Range" the following year. These days, though, even Westerns aren't treating Costner kindly.