Saturday At The Movies – Donovan’s Echo

Some movies just sneak up on you. You have no expectations and they just wind up holding you through its run time and then stick with you long after they’ve finished. That was definitely the case for both the Queen and I with Donovan’s Echo, starring Danny Glover and Bruce Greenwood.

Glover stars as the title character, who lost his family some 30 years early in a car accident and who now returns home for reasons he can’t quite explain. As he tries to settle back into normal life, he experiences multiple cases of deja vu, which leads his brother-in-law (Greenwood) to question his sanity. Meanwhile, Donovan meets a young girl and her mother who can’t help but remind him of his lost family.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Danny Glover headline a film, and he does so beautifully well in Donovan’s Echo. Weary one moment, earnest the next, Glover simply delivers on all fronts. There’s a lot of emotion and self-doubt that Donovan is dealing with, which the actor conveys with a legitimately heartfelt performance. While this film is certainly smaller than the big Hollywood hits we’ve seen Glover in, his performance here demonstrates that the actor still has the ability to command the screen.

Along with Glover’s strong performance, Donovan’s Echo is graced with a smart script courtesy of co-writer Melodie Krieger and co-writer/director Jim Cliffe. It asks big questions of the nature of our lives, if moments can be repeated and why we’re here in the first place. Heavy topics, but in the hands of these filmmakers and actors it doesn’t come across as heavy-handed. Instead, Donovan’s Echo simply leaves you thinking about what you’ve watched after the credits roll. That’s the sign of a good movie.

Donovan’s Echo is highly recommended.