Donovan's Echo (2012)

Best movie ever!

The acting in this movie is really good.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Maybe even a 7/10.Danny Glover has been in so many garbage films and series that he has become a bit of an underrated actor. In this film at least he gets to be the focus, and show us some of his ability. Also the child supporting lead is not the usual vile little snot-nosed thing, instead she's quite restrained and engaging.But overall, this film is so 'un-demanding', when really it should be an edge-of-the seat jobby. For some reason it just fails to scare.It's not boring, it's just ... more innocuous than it should be. We watched it late at night before work, and it made almost no emotional impression whatsoever.All of which makes it sound like a bad film!It's not, it's got a good little story and a couple of nice twists.You could sum it up by "I didn't mind it."

I had never heard of this movie before, but when I saw it in redbox with the screen notables Danny Glover and Bruce Greenwood, I decided to give it a try.I wasn't expecting it to be a great film, which it wasn't, but I found it rather intriguing as it kept my interest throughout.Set in 1994, Danny Glover stars as Donovan Matheson, who's returning to his family home after a 30 year absence, Thirty years ago, he had lost his wife and young daughter in a tragic auto accident, when an underage driver, who had stolen a truck, crossed the median and instantly killed his family. Donovan is still racked with guilt, as instead of joining them that day on an outing to celebrate his birthday, he chose to stay home and work on his low energy (cold fusion) theory. Having worked on the Manhattan Project (A-Bomb), at Los Alamos during WW2, the cold fusion theory was his way of trying to make amends to the world he thought.Bruce Greenwood co-stars as Sargeant Finnley Boyd, the local police officer and, I believe, Donovan's brother-in-law (although this is not made totally clear in the film). He has kept Donovan's home rented at times and maintained it while he was gone.When an 11 year-old girl named Maggie (the same name as Donovan's daughter), ably portrayed by Natasha Calis, comes to his home asking if he wants any help with the lawn, Donovan senses a connection to the girl, and even tells Finn that he believes he's there to somehow save her.Donovan finds an old journal from 30 years before where he made entries about predictions and premonitions that he had at the time that never happened. However, he slowly begins to realize, since he's always had trouble interposing 6's and 9's that these premonitions may in fact be coming true now. When he tries to alert Finn to this, Finn thinks he's becoming more and more mentally unbalanced, with not resolving his grief issues over the loss of his family. However, when he sees for himself what's happening, he has to re-assess this.OK, so when we actually get the payoff here, it's rather ridiculous and far-fetched, in my opinion, but, as noted, there was enough intrigue throughout that I was quite interested in how the pieces of the puzzle would all come together. I wasn't expecting much, and felt overall it certainly was worth the $1.27 I paid to see it.

(Plot) Donovan (Danny Glover) is a man with a haunted past, who lost his wife and child in a tragic accident. He moves back into his old neighborhood with the help of his old friend. (Bruce Greenwood) He keeps getting visions that might mean something in the long runI saw this one a few months ago. I didn't expect a whole lot, but I gladly picked it up for a rental because I love Danny Glover. It turns out I made a wise choice, because I found an underrated gem. Donovan's Echo has an eerie atmosphere throughout the film. I was fully involved in Donovan's plight, and what was going to happen to him. I give a lot of credit to the writers for making Donovan such a sympathetic character, and of course Danny Glover himself for such a fantastic performance. Danny has been one of Hollywood's most underrated actors for some time if you ask me. The mystery is also very well developed. I was fully engrossed in it, and was eagerly anticipating for what was to come next. I also dug some of the characters Donovan encounters along the way. Maggie (Natasha Calis) was absolutely adorable as the curious child, which Donovan ends up befriending. Their chemistry was great. The only carp I have with this movie is this. I felt the finale could have been done a bit better. Final Thoughts: This is quite a suspenseful gem for a low budget Canadian feature. You don't have to be Canadian like I am to enjoy this movie. If you can find it, please seek it out. You might be pleasantly surprised like I was7/10

Donovan (Danny Glover) returns to his home after 30-years of roaming (which was never really explained) due to the deaths of his wife and child in a vehicle accident. He was a nuclear physicist and blames himself for paying more attention to his work rather than his family. He was also a member of the Manhattan Project back in the day and later became obsessed with Cold Fusion. Now that he is back he has visions of the future that correspond to the date he lost his family. Remember the saying or slogan "we are all connected" from other movies: CRASH and CLOUD ATLAS? Apparently the message didn't get through as we have this movie to drill it into us again. Donovan sees visions of what will happen in the future and Finn (Bruce Greenwood) the local Canadian policeman and Donovan's best friend doesn't believe him; and Finn thinks Donovan is becoming dangerous. Donovan believes there is a reason he came back - at this time - and he sees things and attaches the visions to the date of the death of his wife and child. We decide Donovan is not mental (hey, that would be another story) but he cannot seem to get thru to Finn, Maggie (the 11-year old who has the same name of his daughter who died in that accident), or to Maggie's mother Sarah (Sonja Bennett). We have dialogues in our heads that would help but our dialogues are never used. Bummer. We try to connect the dots with Donovan. However, the way these dots are presented make it difficult to follow any logic and it is here the script confuses us. Sad to say much of this story is disjointed and we are on the verge of looking for the remote to end this because we find ourselves no longer caring. I don't believe the connection message got thru this time. In the other movies mentioned above the connections are universal; but here the connections seemed to be relegated to Donovan and the immediate cast only. The drilling was not successful in my opinion. (4/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.