Donovan's Echo (2011)

A series of uncanny déjà vu events force a man to re-examine his tragic past, memory, instinct, and future.

Director:

Jim Cliffe

Writers:

Jim Cliffe (screenplay), Melodie Krieger (screenplay)

Stars:

Danny Glover, Kyarra Willis, Karen Holness

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Glover	...	Donovan Matheson
Kyarra Willis	...	Magnolia Matheson
Karen Holness	...	Jasmine Matheson
Bruce Greenwood	...	Finnley Boyd
Kevin McNulty	...	Dean Belton
Natasha Calis	...	Maggie Walgrave
Lanette Ware	...	Susan Boyd
Hiro Kanagawa	...	Kaisha
Katina Small	...	Maggie Walgrave - 35 years
Stephen Jefferys	...	Speaker (as Stephen Jeffreys)
Chelah Horsdal	...	Doctor
David Lewis	...	Kit
Sonja Bennett	...	Sarah Walgrave
Sunita Prasad	...	Medical Assistant
Ian Tracey	...	Ray

Storyline

In late 1994, former physicist Donovan Matheson returns to his hometown to live in the house he abandoned almost thirty years ago following the deaths of his wife and then eleven year old daughter, Jasmine Matheson and Magnolia Matheson respectively, in a car accident caused by Christopher Bailey, an underage driver who stole a car for a joyride. Donovan, who focused his work on cold fusion, believes he is at fault for their deaths as he believes he could have saved them if not for other things in his life, including his excessive drinking which has only worsened in his grief. The house had been kept up by Donovan's friend, police sergeant Finnley Boyd, who Donovan had only sporadically kept in touch with in the intervening years. Although not clear why he moved back, Donovan comes to believe, in a sense of déjà vu, that the purpose of his return ultimately is to save an eleven year old girl he meets, Maggie Walgrave, in his constant encounters with her, her bookstore owner mother ...

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Plot Keywords:

downward spiral | past | memory | instinct | astronomy | 

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Taglines:

We Are All Connected

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violent content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El destino está escrito

Filming Locations:

Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Common Man Films Ltd., Donovan's Echo Productions, Maniacal Toon Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Maggie's (Natasha Calis) father "Jason" only appears on-screen in a photo, and is portrayed by Executive Producer Lance Priebe.

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Goofs

In the newspaper clipping Donovan pulls out near the beginning of the movie, there is a typo. It says "Police and ambulances responded quickly to the seen.. (should be "scene").

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Soundtracks

That Girl
Written by Richard Markmann, Dan Pinella (as Daniel Pinella) and Christopher Wagner
Performed by Matter

User Reviews

Somewhat Disjointed

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.