Cassandra's Dream
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Movie Reviews of Cassandra's Dream
Movie Review: Allen's Nightmare Becomes His Fans
Summary: 2 Stars
I realized something while watching "Cassandra's Dream", the new film written and directed by Woody Allen, and the third straight set in London. In each of his films, during the last decade or so, there is some clue as to what is inspiring the filmmaker to make the particular film you are watching. In "Cassandra's Dream", Ian (Ewan McGregor) and his girlfriend, Angela (Hayley Atwell) are attending a garden party at the country estate of a young British millionaire. The millionaire asks the duo "What is your favorite Greek tragedy?" Yes, let's ignore for a moment the fact that this type of dialogue just doesn't come up in normal conversation. Some of the references are more overt than others, but Allen intends "Dream" to be a modern sort of Greek tragedy, a retelling of his favorite fable.
Ian (McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) are brothers, each with tremendous financial problems. Early in the film, they manage to scrape together some money and buy a small sailboat. After the refurbish it, they christen it "Cassandra's Dream" and set sail. Later, their financial troubles have only deepened; Terry is a gambler and is now 90,000 pounds in the hole, Ian wants to escape working at their parent's restaurant and invest in a business deal to start some hotels in California. When he meets Angela, an aspiring actress, his goals become all the more enticing. Their parents have a history of relying on Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), a successful plastic surgeon and philanthropist, to help them make ends meet. When Uncle Howard comes for a visit, the boys ask him to help out. Uncle Howard agrees, but it appears he isn't as saintly as Ian and Terry's mother believe and he needs some help; a former business associate is threatening to divulge some secrets about Howard's business dealings, threatening his business and livelihood. He needs his nephews to kill the informer. I mean, they are asking for a lot of money, again, so it seems like a fair exchange.
Eschewing the relationship- based comedies and the slapstick derived shenanigans he is best-known for, Allen revisits the sort of shady moral ambiguity he plumbed so memorably with "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and the more recent "Match Point". The only problem? "Cassandra's Dream" is nowhere near as good or memorable as these other two entries. This leads me to the other oft-noted comment about Woody Allen's films. In the last decade or so, for every good film, there can be two or more films that are mediocre or just plain excruciatingly painful films he subjects his fans to. "Matchpoint" was a near great film, showcasing a writer - director with great material and a cast to match. That film was followed by "Scoop", a dreadful excuse for a `funny' film, starring Scarlet Johansson and Hugh Jackman. "Dream" isn't as bad as "Scoop", but it is a long way from "Matchpoint".
One of the key problems with "Dream" is everyone talks, a lot. Ian talks about his potential business deal and needing money for that. Then he meets
Angela and they talk about moving to California together. Ian talks with Terry about Terry's gambling. Terry talks with Ian about his gambling debts. We get it. They have money problems. Ian talks about his unhappiness with his life, he doesn't like working at his family restaurant and wants to escape to California. He talks about this with Terry, he talks about this with his dad, he talks about this with his mom, and he talks about this with Angela. Then, his father brings up Ian's grand ambitions, which have been problematic in the past. Many times. After Uncle Howard makes his request, Ian and Terry have many conversations about murdering his business associate; Ian seems to have little problem with the idea, Terry has a lot of problems with it. But they both need money. And then discuss why they need the money again.
Interrupting these numerous and varied discussions, the two brothers take their newly refurbished boat out, they murder a man, and later, they take the boat out again.
Many filmmakers have made their careers crafting films using a lot of well-written, bordering on clever dialogue throughout. Allen himself has been known to create dialogue for his characters giving them a comedic spin, making them memorable. But Allen is also guilty of writing dialogue in his voice, varying it little, despite the age, economic status or sex of the character. In many of the director's best films, the sheer number of characters he has floating throughout the story masks this problem. Most of his best films have at least half dozen well-known actors playing various parts, usually more. This gives all of the characters the opportunity to absorb these awkward lines, while waiting for the chance to utter the funny and memorable dialogue he is best known for. But when he makes smaller films, with fewer characters, the problem becomes amplified. In "Dream", the majority of the dialogue is between Ian and Terry, or between one of the brothers and their significant others. So when they say things like "Oh, my God, I feel so self-conscious right now", you almost want to laugh because we half expect this to be an amusing line spoken by one of Allen's signature characters, the type he often plays and models after our image of him. The filmmaker's years of analysis and self-reflection have always played a part in his work. But in "Dream", he has no doppelganger, no stand-in. So when a young twenty-something actress says a line similar to this, it feels phony and contrived.
Also, the two brothers address each other by name, a lot, when talking to one another. I don't know about you. But when I am having a conversation with one other person, I rarely use their name, and only when I am trying to emphasize what I am saying. Because Terry and Ian do this so much, it is almost as though Allen is trying to keep track of who is speaking his dialogue.
"Matchpoint" is a very similar film, yet a more successful one. In that film, the two main characters faced a moral dilemma together and their actions led the story. In "Dream", the two brothers face an unpleasant task together, yet one of them is clearly very bothered about his part of the task, while the other seems more put out by his brother's reluctance to complete the required actions. So, they talk about it, and one brother tries to convince the other. And they talk some more. And then talk some more.
The two leads do their best with the dialogue. While McGregor seems the most comfortable with the awkward lines and excessive dialogue, Farrell is more successful at creating his character. Terry is the black sheep of the family and a gambler. Riding the roller coaster accompanying this type of addiction, he is overjoyed one day and morose the next. When their Uncle asks them to murder a potentially harmful business associate, you might expect him to have the easier time accepting the chore ahead of them. But he struggles with the moral dilemmas associated with this task, tossing and turning as he sleeps. Farrell is able to make Terry seem weaker and more vulnerable.
McGregor's Ian falls for Angela, a glamorous actress, early in the film. Before this, Ian is desperate to raise some money to invest in a new business deal in California, to escape the dungeon that is their parent's restaurant. After he meets Angela, he seems more determined to make this happen, to make her more interested in him. What actress wouldn't want to move to California, to be closer to Hollywood and stardom? But despite some off-hand references by his father, we never get a feeling for how and why Ian is able to so easily go ahead with his Uncle's request. I understand he will get money and be able to make the business deal a reality, but just listening to people talk about these things doesn't help to make them visually interesting.
Tom Wilkinson plays Uncle Harold and while he is interesting to watch, this happens more because you keep waiting for some subtle hint of his true diabolical nature. When he reveals what he wants his nephews to do, it's diabolical, for sure, and he is desperate, desperate for this potential source of harm to go away. But the actor never gives us a brief glimpse of something else, something lying beneath the surface.
In fact, that is pretty much the problem with the entire film; there is nothing below the surface and because of all of the talk, nothing is really visually interesting.
Movie Review: CASSANDRA'S DREAM OFFERS SNORES
Summary: 2 Stars
I love Woody Allen movies. I am perhaps one of the few that does with the exception of the main stream world of critics who fawn all over any and everything he does. Such is the case with this film that many have found wonderful.
The story takes place in Britain and revolves around two brothers. Ian (Ewan McGregor) is a young man who wants better for himself. At present he is stuck running his father's restaurant while his father recovers. His sights are set higher than this though, planning with a new friend to invest money in a real estate deal in California.
Terry (Collin Farrell) on the other hand is content with life in his home town. Always on the lookout for more money, Terry has a severe gambling problem. When he wins, he wins big, but then he turns around and sends it all back as well as more than he can afford to pay back.
The brothers work hard and do their best, always wishing for better. When both find themselves in need of substantial cash, their prayers are answered with the arrival of their uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson). Howard is a success, having made tons of money in the states as a doctor. They know he can afford to help them, the question is will he?
After a reunion at dinner, the boys get their chance alone with Howard. They put forth their question of cash and he replies with an offer for them. It seems he has gotten himself into some trouble with his books and business practices and needs them to do him a favor in return for his giving them the money they need. He needs them to kill someone.
The movie revolves around this issue from there on out. The brothers, intensely loyal to one another, banter about the prospects of doing this deed but suffering from it morally. While Ian wants to go for it, Terry has doubts and concerns, mostly involving guilt. But go for it they do and afterwards nothing will ever be the same.
Reading what I've written, this actually sounds like a good movie. Too bad that it involves far too much dialogue and characters that for me seemed like cardboard cutouts as opposed to real people. The talking is nonstop and repeats the same things over and over and over again. This doesn't yield insight, it merely makes the clock continue ticking for a lengthier film. Also, the fact that two brothers raised together could have such differing viewpoints on life and guilt rang false with me.
Worst of all was I never found myself caring for either of these brothers. One seemed a ruthless enough that he thought only of himself. The other was a milquetoast who whimpered about too much and took no responsibility for his own actions. To feel no sympathy for either made this film more an endurance than a pleasure to watch.
In Woody Allen's film STARDUST MEMORIES he had aliens show up on Earth wanting to speak with his character, a film director. The film was somewhat auto-biographical in this case. The main thing that the aliens wanted him to know was that they didn't like his dramas. They thought he was better when he was funny. Amazing how I find myself agreeing with aliens, albeit fictional ones.
Movie Review: Dream that turned into a Nightmare
Summary: 2 Stars
Woody Allen returns to familiar territory in Cassandra's Dream. The whole murder and mystery thing in London that has been his main theme since Match Point and Scoop is getting a bit boring. Match Point was good and got him his best reviews in twenty years. However it was too similar to a section of Crimes and Misdemeanors, the last film that got him those rave reviews, in which a man has an affair and then plots to kill his mistress. Cassandra's Dream is different as it tells the story of two brothers who find themselves desperate and in need of cash. The Blaine brothers are two working class lads who need a large amount of money and quick. Terry (Colin Farrell) is a mechanic with a gambling problem who has just lost big at the track and owes some dangerous people . Ian (Ewan McGregor) works at their dad's restaurant out of pity but dreams of finding the right girl and opening his own chain of hotels. One day while driving in the countryside he meets a pretty actress and begins to woo her. He can't afford to buy her affections however so he too needs money. The boy's Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) is rich and has always come through for the family before. When he arrives in town each brother presents their case to him and asks him for the money. Howard isn't prepared to just give it to them like he has done before. He wants a return on his investment. A former business partner is set to testify against him in an upcoming trial. The testimony could land him in jail for the rest of his life where he would not be able to access his money and be useless to the boys. He wants the man taken care of as he explains it. Terry is shocked to hear this and immediately refuses to participate in a murder. Ian on the other hand makes it his duty to convince his brother that this is their only way out of their current predicament. The rest of the film concerns the brothers plotting and going through with a murder and the consequences of their actions. What happens to Terry makes this film somewhat unique and is certainly unexpected. Farrell and McGregor are quite good and Tom Wilkinson is perfect as the rich uncle who is sympathetic one moment but menacing and dangerous the next. It has some good things going for it but ultimately it gets boring because it is repetitive. It isn't hard to see why this film never found a distributor at Cannes and instead went straight to DVD.Movie Review: The Brothers McSullen
Summary: 2 Stars
Woody Allen's latest release is another one of his cold, crisp British-set thrillers like "Match Point."
But this one mostly feels like scraps and discarded scenes from that somewhat overrated but still far better film.
Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor play cash-poor brothers who agree to commit a murder in exchange for the needed funds.
Think everything works out for them?
Think crime pays?
Think again.
This is a handsome piece (photography courtesy of Vilmos Zsigmond) and there are some sequences with genuine suspense.
But the brothers are such wide-eyed simps, and their characters so hastily sketched, it's hard to care much about either of them. Aside from their drinking, smoking and shagging, they almost seem to have skipped off the cover of a Hardy Boys adventure. They can barely handle the initial prospect of murder in a rational way, much less its aftermath.
Allen's often-effective tendency toward simplified, expositional dialogue this time mostly underscores the lethargic plot, and his often-returned-to-themes (the effect a crime has on an assailant; the divide between rich and poor members of the same family) don't advance as much as they have in previous efforts, specifically "Crimes and Misdemeanors."
Philip Glass' railroad locomotive of a score calls attention to itself, and to the fact that Allen is better off sticking with his habit of selecting pre-recorded music for his soundtracks.
While certainly not a waste of 110 minutes, "Cassandra" doesn't come across like it should and it seems even less assured when considered against the similarly-themed, similarly-plotted "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" released only a few months earlier.
Movie Review: rent it only
Summary: 2 Stars
Lot of people seem to argue for or against this movie based on it being another Woody Allen movie. If you were to show this movie to a person without telling who the director is, I would venture that almost no one will guess the director. There's nothing about this movie to distinguish it. Ewan and Colin does ok work (Colin is definitely better) but Tom Wilkinson is totally wasted. Ewan will never be a great actor (name one outstanding performance) and Colin Farrell is way better in "In Bruges" besides that being a much better movie. For supposedly a family tragedy film, the movie lacks any real tension and feels strained in it's attempt to convey any melodrama. You may be mildly amused but don't waste your time and money buying it.