Well, here we are in spring – the dead zone of the movie season. The time of year when studios do their housecleaning, throwing out those movies that weren't highbrow enough for a winter release and don't possess the necessary "Wow Factor" to survive the harsh competition of the impending summer. What's that mean for us hungry moviegoers? Well, a bunch of average movies for starters. Here's a few thoughts on a couple flicks I've caught during this lackluster season. In my opinion, summer can't get here soon enough.

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Dragonfly

(Filmboy's Rating: 2 Popcorns)

STARRING: Kevin Costner, Kathy Bates, Susanna Thompson and Joe Morton

With every new Kevin Costner film, a piece of me dies.

Somebody stop this guy from making movies before we all come to believe that his amazing streak in the late eighties and early nineties was just a fluke. This guy made one of my all-time favorites ("Bull Durham" since you asked), but when I go see his current flicks, I'm just ashamed and embarrassed. Watching his movies now are like catching your dad enjoying midget porn. Oh, dear Lord, just make it stop! Make the world pretty again!

This guy has shoveled more crap lately than a stable boy at the Kentucky Derby. He needs to retire or become the troubled new investigator on "C.S.I." Just stop him from starring in junk that he would have refused to make just a scant decade ago. That said, Costner's latest is the supernatural thriller "Dragonfly" and it's his best film in years. But when you consider his recent track record, that sure ain't saying much.

Costner plays Joe Darrow, a big-time Chicago surgeon who just lost his pregnant doctor wife in a tragic accident while she was doing charity work in Venezuela. The movie makes a big deal about how this woman was incredibly headstrong and dedicated, but what husband " especially one who claims to love his wife as much as this guy – lets his wife hit the UNICEF trail during her final trimester?

For that matter, what ob-gyn worth his speculum allows his EXTREMELY pregnant patient fly to a third world country? My sister's doctor wouldn't even let her fly to Iowa when she was about to pop. And we're talking about Iowa, ladies and gentlemen. I-O-W-A. Taking a dump after eating Mexican food is more dangerous.

So Joe is all sad and angry, but since he's an uptight, cynical workaholic who can't express his feelings, he deals with his loss by pulling round-the-clock hospital shifts. The movie gets its name from his wife's affection for dragonflies. Once she dies, the little buggers keep showing up. Joe also starts hearing and seeing weird stuff, like his wife's belongings reappearing in the house after he's packed them away. His friends feel that he's just exhausted and grieving, but Joe thinks he's getting a message from the other side.

These feelings are intensified when he checks in on his wife's old patients – a bunch of terminally ill kids. A couple of them have had near-death experiences and, with their best Haley Joel Osment impressions, they let Joe know that wifey-poo says hi. The movie postulates that Joe, who doesn't believe in God or Heaven, is getting a telegram from the pearly gates. Had the movie been smart enough to stay on this course, "Dragonfly" could have been an interesting, even uplifting, film " a less-sappy "Ghost."

Unfortunately, Director Tom Shadyac would rather do a half-assed rip-off of "The Sixth Sense" with a sprinkle of the treacle that sunk his "Patch Adams." Veteran screenwriter David Seltzer (who penned the creepy "The Omen" but also the more disturbing "My Giant") and rookie scribes Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson try to give us the answers, but they stretch the credibility of the story until it breaks. Ultimately, "Dragonfly" devolves into a gooey schmaltz-fest. This flick is just one more step on Costner's path towards oblivion.

Go toward the light, Kevin. PLEASE, go toward the light.

Filmboy Recommends: The Sixth Sense

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40 Days and 40 Nights

(Filmboy's Rating: 2 Popcorns)

STARRING: Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, Paulo Costanzo and Griffin Dunne

If only real life could be like the "reel life" of "40 Days and 40 Nights." Everyone would be hip and good looking. We'd all live in cool pads and have interesting jobs. And the fact that we gave up sex for Lent would cause every hot looking woman at work (because there are ONLY hot looking women at work) to hit on us. I gave up sex once and didn't get this kind of attention. But I wasn't Josh Hartnett and it wasn't for Lent. It was for my twenties. Looking back, that really wasn't by choice, but I digress . . .

Pretty boy Josh Hartnett ("Pearl Harbor" and "Black Hawk Down") plays Matt, a web designer all mopey after being dumped by his longtime girlfriend. He decides to hide his sorrows with a series of one-night stands, but being a sensitive hunk, realizes he needs a better solution. Matt gives up sex (of any kind) for 40 days and 40 nights. His reasoning being that once his mind is freed of the distraction, he can think more clearly and get his life back on track.

Wouldn't you know it, as soon as Matt gives up the hippity dippity, he meets the girl of his dreams (Shannyn Sossamon from "A Knight's Tale"). Holy O. Henry, Batman! How can he let this woman know that he really digs her without getting physical? I would suggest flowers and chocolates and oh, I don't know, maybe TALKING TO HER, but Matt decides to fumble around all goofy whenever she tries to get romantic.

Meanwhile, his friends and co-workers start taking bets on when Matt is going to crack. Since they work at a web design firm, they put the whole thing on the Internet and soon betting on this guy's celibacy is everyone's favorite pastime. All the babes in the office get miffed because Matt's not into them so they decide to win the money by seducing him, thereby also winning back "control" over his libido. I don't really get that last part, but it has something to do with women being the only ones who are allowed to withhold sexual favors. If that's true, it really sheds some light on my college years.

This movie had possibilities by being a sex comedy where the lead character doesn't have sex. Unfortunately, Director Michael Lehman ("Heathers") and his writers Steve Pink, D.V. DeVincentis and Rob Perez take the path of least resistance. There's not much creativity evident in the masturbation humor and slutty chicks kissing on display. I mean, it's nothing you couldn't catch for free on that Howard Stern show late at night on the E Channel.

Even so, Hartnett still manages to put in an appealing performance. He rises above the sophomoric material and the shallow cast. It's nice to see this guy lighten up after his sullen turn in "Pearl Harbor." As the film progresses, Hartnett uses his face and body to depict the inner struggle between his rising urges and his earnest self-control. He owns this movie in scenes where Matt has been reduced to a simpering, muzzled horndog.

Griffin Dunne ("An American Werewolf in London") also gets some laughs as Matt's equally sex-deprived boss and Paulo Costanzo ("Road Trip") has some winning lines as Matt's roommate, but they're one-note roles – all punchline and no personality. As the dream girl, Sossamon exhibits all the charisma of a head of wilted lettuce. The remaining cast are walking, talking Gap ads – pretty but not very memorable. The film also possesses a slightly misogynistic side by portraying most of the women as nasty prick teases. A flick this vapid is almost enough to make you give up watching movies for Lent . . . almost.

Filmboy Recommends: American Pie