User reviews

While the latter 1980s were absolutely gagged with lame body-switching comedies like the listless Vice Versa and Like Father, Like Son, I found something entirely different and actually inspiring in Dream a Little Dream. Buoyed by strong performances, Dream is not at all what you'd expect it would be. Much to my surprise, it is actually a smart, witty, intelligent and touching look at old age and adolecence by way of new age philosophy. Corey Feldman gives one of his best performances, and no, that's not a joke, and Haim is never better anywhere than he is in his small role as the oddball best friend Dinger. Obviously it didn't hurt to have a three time Oscar nominee like the late, great Jason Robards on board. This movie really does have something for everyone, and I'm being a hundred percent serious. So many "oh so serious" types like to bash movies like this, but I'm a writer, and I love good, interesting movies, and I truly see this as one of them. What a terrific, quirky little gem produced by the Two Coreys before midnight, January 1st, 1990 when their careers suddenly spiralled down the toilet. Funny, touching, and utterly enjoyable.

I loved this movie when it came out originally. It was disjointed, as was the fashion then in movie making. I still love it, but it honestly hasn't held up that well. This last time it seemed that they must have edited out some key parts. There is a sweet love story and a coming-of-age parallel story involved, some partial character development of admittedly one-dimensional caricatures of human beings, but I still love this movie. It must be the nostalgia.

I guess that there is a mandatory rule that I mention two of the teen stars, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. They see kind of quintessential characters which reminds me that it's time to rewatch The Lost Boys.

Transfer of consciousness movies were really piling up ever since the Disney Studios came out with the first Freaky Friday during the 80s and 90s. In the case of Dream A Little Dream it only goes one way.

Senior citizen Jason Robards tells his wife Piper Laurie that he's been doing a lot of transcendental meditation and he tells her quite matter of factly that one night he will go to sleep, will himself into a coma and move into the mind of another. Unfortunately the mind he occupies is that of Corey Feldman a rather vapid teen who's got two things on his mind.

The first is he does like Michael Jackson and Feldman does a mean moonwalk. The second is Meredith Salenger who is the girlfriend of jock William McNamara. The only one who has some grasp of how Feldman has changed from within is best friend Corey Haim.

The best scenes are when Feldman goes to sleep and then he can contact Robards. Those dream sequences have both learning a lot about each other.

Usually Corey Haim is in the lead and Feldman is the second banana. It was nice to see them change this up.

Dream A Little Dream besides reviving a great pop standard is nice and innocuous teen flick that still holds up well.

So far it's just a bunch of random scenes and montages and hip sounding music and the Corey's seemingly improv-ing the whole movie. Wow. Is it me?

This movie could be a bit confusing, but if you watch it more than once, there are a lot of funny stuff you missed the first time. It's really a pretty cool movie. At least try to watch it once if you have nothing better to do.

Corey Feldman's apparent real-life obsession with Michael Jackson really shone through in this movie. It was distracting, which is probably a good thing in this case.

The storyline was so disjointed and flawed that it pretty much makes every other movie made in 1989 look like an Oscar hopeful.

I've lost a little bit of respect and admiration from my friend who recommended this movie. Is he alright?

I'm still confused...

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Just another teenage flick was turned into a decent movie by the direction and production team. I normally don't care for slow motion sequences like the ones in this movie, but they work because of the eerie tone. The soundtrack of familiar 60/70s music also works for the same reason.

My favorite scene is where the Robards character is pretending to be the Feldman character by trying to speak teenage slang. I can picture Robards speaking the lines and it just breaks me up. A nice supporting cast rounds out the story, which essentially doesn't amount to much more than two people finding respect for each other. In this case, it's all that it needed.

I'm confused as to how this movie has so many amazing ratings compared to the quality of the movie. It was bad.

Corey Haim was barely in it and his character didn't have to be in it, they just wanted to market it as another "The Two Coreys" film, which is understandable, but it's disappointing that he didn't play a bigger role.

Music was thrown in at the most random points in the film as a desperate attempt to grab the watcher's attention and create a fun atmosphere. Well, it grabbed my attention for one thing, but definitely not in the way it wanted to.

The plot is incredibly confusing and there is a really awkward scene where Corey Feldman performs a song to the lead chick (wife of Patton Oswalt, can't remember her name).

It was a waste of time and I wish I could have that time back to watch a more worthy 80s film that actually was a classic, not some weird material that would be insufferable in any decade.

Do not watch "Dream a Little Dream" if you're looking for a cute throwback film. If you really like Corey Feldman and Corey Haim and you really just want to see a movie with the both of them in it, choose this film as a last effort if you have no access to The Lost Boys.

Even if you're not an 80's movie fan you'll love Dream A Little Dream. I saw this movie for the first time when I was 10 years old and I still can't get enough of it. Dream A Little Dream is a drama, romance and a little bit of comedy rolled into one. The writers brought so much to this movie where the young are joined to the old by tragedy. In Dream A Little Dream the power of dreams come to a reality where the young and the old are taught the lessons of life and love once they walk in the shoes of the opposite. They couldn't have picked better actors for this movie. What would be better than having one of the corey's in an 80's movie? The answer is having both Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. For a change, Corey Feldman plays a more serious role while Corey Haim is still funny as usual.

The Corey's aren't the only actors in Dream A Little Dream that are familiar to the big screen. Movie veterans Harry Dean Stanton and Jason Robards bring back their old movie charm while Saturday Night Live alumni Victoria Jackson was just starting out her film career.

What a shame because it could have been a legit classic - all it needed was a better director, sober editor, and had the Coreys switch places. We really needed a License to Drive crew over here with this. This was somewhat of a legendary movie we always saw on TV and got excited for but, after watching recently in its entirety, I realized I had never watched the whole movie! I totally understand because it sucks! It's just erring too much on the wrong side of cocaine derived content and production. It's probably one of the most famous poorly made films in my lifetime. That being said... I'm going to watch it again soon. There's something interesting about it...

Here again, the two Corey's hmmm strange plot, nothing initial but plenty of holes that leave you wondering what's really going on on earth. There's no adequate explanation as to how and why the body / mind change is going to happen and then everything becomes nothing at the end?? huh?Poor performances from all really, there may be many of the bigger names just to cash in on being with the younger stars, showing that they're still hip hehe Can't advise unless you enjoy the two Coreys.

A terrific original plot, great acting. Meredith Salenger does an excellent job as Lainie, and Corey Feldman does one of his best performances (several scenes are outside of his "normal" routine, and he does them very well). A very good combination of romance, seriousness, a little comedy, and a touch of weirdness.

Dream a Little Dream's trailer is the most false advertised trailer I've ever seen. It states the film is about a teenager named Bobby who is a slacker in high school, and must win the girl of his dreams in three days. Okay, don't really understand it too much, but I'll let it fly. The back of the DVD doesn't do too much justice either. It has the character Dinger (Haim) state some things about Bobby and explain his personality in a bias way, and he says he will be "sticking around to see what happens". I will be too.

Unlike the advertising on the box and the trailer, DALD is about another "body and mind swap" type of films that Hollywood did away with in the eighties. Vice Versa and Like Father, Like Son would be dubbed as "cult classics" in the 2000 decade. The film probably scrapped trying to explain it in the title because they knew the consumers had enough with being alienated with these movies that were already confusing enough. Dream a Little Dream doesn't help in being a confusion lacking film.

The plot: Bobby is a teenager who's grades are awful, and his best friend Dinger tries to get Bobby on the right track but it doesn't seem to help much. Bobby, Dinger, and a group of friends always use a shortcut found in a Coleman (Robards), a grumpy old man's, well kept yard. Obviously, like any other grumpy old man, this one does not approve of the teen's careless disrespect for his property. One night, Bobby is racing through the yard of the old man to try and get home when he collides with Lanie (Salenger), his friend's girlfriend, in their yard while Coleman and his wife Gena are meditating.

In the blink of an eye Coleman is in Bobby's body, and Laurie is unknowingly Gena. What a paradox! The Laurie is Gena part is pretty much left for the audience to assume. The film doesn't even give you a hint. It's a disorganized mess that almost forgets to explain what's going on. The cast might know what's happening, but I, myself, as an audience member is expecting to have this somewhat explained to me.

The two things that rescue this movie before it hits the bottom of the barrel are; it's rocking soundtrack and the fact it's a buddy movie with Haim/Feldman. The movie blasts R.E.M. and the song Dream a Little Dream of Me at random, but satisfying times. Sometimes the music gets a little abrupt and annoying, but there's a volume meter that can be controlled. There are not a lot of good H/F movies out there. They did around seven, The Lost Boys is pretty good (not great), License to Drive is great, Busted sucked, Last Resort was forgettable and a little immature, Blown Away wasn't that great of a film, but it was entertaining as hell, and Dream a Little Dream goes down as a so-so, could've been better film like Last Resort. I have yet to watch the sequel to this film as well.

Dream a Little Dream is far from fantastic, but it's acceptable. It isn't as bad as some make it out to be. The first half hour I was completely lost. I thought this film would be absolutely horrible, but as the film went on I felt more connected to these characters and was rooting for Feldman by the end of the movie. It's not the worst H/F movie out there, but it doesn't compare to the classic that is License to Drive.

I've been searching high and low, trying to find a Comedy CH/CF film that compared in quality to License to Drive. I've dug through pretty much the whole pile and the only one that I haven't watch yet is the sequel to this. Could this be the one film that surpasses LtD in humor, quality, and amusement. Judging from the IMDb rating of 3.2, and the people I talk to telling me it's awful, I doubt it.

Starring: Jason Robards, Corey Feldman, Piper Laurie, Meredith Salenger, Harry Dean Stanton, and Corey Haim. Directed by: Marc Rocco.

Before I begin commenting, I would like to point out that this film was a very hard find. It took the video store my brother works at a week to get it, and it was well worth the wait!Now, with that out of the way, here's my review.

Bizarre dream sequences are only a small part of this fabulous fantasy comedy starring Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Jason Robards, Piper Laurie, and Meredith Salenger.

Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman) lives his life day to day, as he puts it. He is failing all his classes, his parents don't talk to him, and he is head over heels in love with Lainie (Meredith Salenger), although he dates Shelly. But, an accident involving Bobby and Lainie and Coleman and Geena (Jason Robards and Piper Laurie) causes Coleman to take over Bobby's mind and body, and part of Geena's mind takes over Lainie. Now, Coleman has to find a way to switch back and get his wife back. But, Bobby isn't so willing to, unless Coleman can correct his screwed-up existance, while helping him to get Lainie.

Fave scenes:The opening scene intercut with the opening credits involving Bobby and Dinger (Corey Haim) talking about Bobby's infatuation with Lainie, as well as singing the blues and why Dinger's leg was broken (reason: his mom ran him over with her Volvo), the accident scene, the dream sequences, the scene where Bobby discovers that he's Coleman, and when they were having a hard time going to sleep, the scene in the gym when they were dancing to the rock version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me", and the closing credits with Bobby and Coleman dancing to the same song. I guess you can say that I enjoyed EVERYTHING!!

This was a wonderfully romantic movie with an original plot. It was adorable, and Corey Feldman was kinda cute,despite the Michael Jackson look, something he was into for a few years. The Dream sequences wre really interesting, filmed in a strange blue tint. The movie also had an interesting plot, and great music (especially Frank Sinatra's "Young at Heart" and both versions on "Dream a Little Dream of Me."). I highly recommend it to anyone who likes the two Coreys, good acting, creativity, or body switching movies. I'm a little disappointed that some people did not care for it too much, because it was wonderful and mysterious, and very cute (I can't stress that enough.)

This is one dream you'll truly want to remember!:)

Dream a Little Dream was not a easy movie for me to understand. Not till recently about my third attempt I understood the movie and finished watching the whole movie from beginning to end, and enjoyed it.

This is a hard movie to take in since the Corey's grew up and became annoying teenagers, particularly Corey Feldman in his appearances after 'the Burbs'. And with him trying to emulate Michael Jackson from head to toe, it makes it all the more harder to enjoy.

But, search hard, particularly if you're an 80s fan, and I think you'll find something to appreciate. I definitely didn't like this movie the first few times I saw it. It just wasn't funny. But, I rescued a copy of it from the previously viewed rack at the video store, and gave it a few more viewings and I changed my opinion. In fact, I probably like it most because Matt Adler is in it, even if he does play a total creep.

Dream a Little Dream has a lot of your 80s teen angst drama going on. Bobby (Feldman) and Dinger (Haim) contest about who's parents neglect them more. By the way, Alex Rocco and Victoria Jackson are perfect as Bobby Keller's clueless parents. Lanie Salinger's mother's general approach to daughter is anything but affectionate.

Bobby's got other problems of his own when he swithches bodies with Coleman Ettinger, an older neighbor who was in the middle of an experiment with his wife (Piper Laurie) that had something to do about connecting as one soul or some new age thing like that when Bobby Keller accidentally intervenes. Now Coleman Ettinger as Bobby Keller has to get a whole lot of things straight. For one, something happened during the body switch where Gene (Laurie) is going to disappear forever unless Coleman can get back to her. He has to realize that Gene exists as Lanie, and he'll have to show her that that's who she is. Of course, he'll run into even more trouble, because this requires extra time with a very suspcious, very violent boyfriend, Bobby's friend Joel (William MacNamara). It seems kind of complicated, but that's why you gotta watch the movie.

It's really not that bad. If you're skeptical at first, probably if you're not die-hard fans of the Corey's, try watching it a couple of times. It's pretty funny, and the story is fun concept (except for the stupid ending).

I just can't stand Corey Feldman since he grew up, okay? As the little kid in "Gremilns" and "The Goonies" he was fine. But after he hit puberty, the charm went south.

That has nothing to do with "Dream a Little Dream", which I can't stand for reasons all its own, but I just wanted to get that off my chest first.

I feel much better now, let's go on.

I have yet to understand a single solitary thing about this movie, only that Robards is supposed to be Feldman and Feldman is supposed to be Robards. And...that's about it.

And Meredith Salenger is in this, too. She's cute but she outclasses the material greatly. So do Robards and Laurie but that goes without saying.

But as for the Coreys (Feldman and Haim), they had good chemistry in "The Lost Boys". Period. Since then, they have become self-absorbed little twerps who just take acting jobs to keep some excitement in their boring, listless little lives. They used to be able to act but now cannot. Will not. Do not. Even with a gun pointed to their heads (which, when you think about it, might just be worth seeing in itself).

Even if this movie made sense, it would still subject us to the end credit scene where Robards and Feldman sing a rock (yes, ROCK) version of "Dream a Little Dream (of Me)". And Corey, what in the H - E - double hockey sticks do you call that? DANCING? Been spending a little too much time around Michael Jackson, you think?

It's sad, much too sad to think about any longer.

No stars. Corey, don't "Dream" - it's over.

80's teenage comedies come a dime a dozen, but while watching 'Dream A Little Dream' you'll realise it really stands out compared to many of the others.

Written, directed and produced by Marc Rocco, who also wrote psychological thriller 'The Jacket', Dream A Little Dream takes the teen comedy genre and adds a fantasy body-swapping twist to it. But despite the fantasy theme of the film it still comes across sincere and slightly nostalgic.

Once again the two Coreys team up together, this time with Corey Feldman taking the lead role as hopeless in love Bobby, but its Corey Haim who steals the show with a fantastic performance as hapless best friend Dinger.

There are great supporting roles from legends Piper Laurie and Jason Robards and once again a tremendous performance from the always wonderful Harry Dean Stanton.

One weak point in the cast comes from the lead love interest played by pretty faced Meredith Salanger who doesn't seem to fit the mood of the film.

There is a strange atmosphere during the film which is helped along by the soundtrack, Van Morrisons classic "Into The Mystic" seems especially fitting to the movie.

So give Dream A Little Dream a watch, and like it or not I'm sure you'll agree that it's got something a little bit different.

The movie doesn't seem to care to give some answers, for example why the two characters have switched bodies, or worse, it doesn't make any sense that feldman's character doesn't want to go back to normal during practically the entire movie, but at the end , conveniently, they end up switching bodies again and TADAM, was he just kidding? It makes no sense. That said, I still found the movie very funny, the cast is fun, especially feldman and haim who have a very good screen chemistry, but the other actors also try hard to deliver something, the script that really doesn't help. Anyway, as much as the reviews for it are disastrous, when I put aside all the inconsistencies of the script, and there are many, many, it ended up being a fun movie.

So I went into this movie totally expecting it to have the things i wanted. One being its from the 80s, two being it has the Coreys. Unfortunately this movie was so strange and disturbing that I just couldn't quite get into it even though I wanted to. It has a lot of strange themes. For instance the old man becomes Corey Feldman's character (who for the whole movie dresses dances and just looks like Michael Jackson) and then continues to kiss and date the Rick Nelson look alike's girlfriend. Even though he's looking for his wife (who is the mom from Carrie....talk about creepy). So it has this weird pedophile Michael Jackson feel to it. Not to mention it seems like the music tends to over power the movie at some points. And its not even good 80s music or popular things. And with Corey Feldman dancing in the background like Michael Jackson it really just ruins it. But then again some people may like that...Corey Haim has a smaller role in this too, even though I think he may have been able to save the movie had he had a larger role. All in all it was mostly strange but I got a few laughs out of it. It ends on a strange note as well, a picture of the mother from Carrie smiling still frame...I laughed but was a little disturbed. I'd say skip this one. Stick to License to Drive or The Lost Boys.

It's difficult to me to review this film, for the simple reason that I was 15 when I saw this movie. It was made for me. It was made for teenagers trying to figure out life, love, getting into college, and dealing with adults. I loved it.

It was the best by far of the "body-switching" genre that seemed to dominate the 1987-1990 period, but rarely was a teen drama tackled with more earnestness and via such a bizarre but interesting plot. Whatever the reason, it works and instead of being just another body switch comedy or teen fluff, it truly becomes a beautiful film that deserves its cult status.

I recently rewatched a childhood favorite, Dream a Little Dream (1989), on Tubi. The storyline follows an old man and a young man in the same neighborhood who want more time but for different reasons. When a miracle occurs and the young man is sent to a "dream world" while the old man is sent into the kid's body, they must coach each other on how to achieve their goals while also trying to figure out how to get back into their own bodies... if they still want to.

This film is directed by Marc Rocco (Where the Day Takes You) and stars Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys), Jason Robards (All the President's Men), Corey Haim (The Lost Boys), Piper Laurie (Carrie), and Meredith Salenger (Lake Placid).

This movie boasts an elite '80s cast and soundtrack. The Coreys were so cool when I was a kid. Seeing Corey Feldman's Michael Jackson look cracks me up every time, but their styles and looks were really cool during this era. The concept could have been better executed but was still fun to watch unfold. The love story is cheesy but entertaining. There's an alley gun sequence that was way better than expected and very intense. The ending was perfectly executed and heartwarming.

In conclusion, Dream a Little Dream is '80s nostalgic gold with its flaws and charm. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Still...it is an interesting film. Like a hodge-podge of teen-movie clutter that is highly stylized to look classy and meaningful. Yet, it is not...this movie doesn't necessarily succeed, though it makes for solid head-scratching material. Even so, I liked it on some level.

Pros: The Corey's try something different (slightly); very atmospheric, if nothing else; a nice, if a bit loud, soundtrack.

Cons: Everything else. That includes who ever edited this thing. Also includes Feldman's botched efforts to play dual rolls convincingly.

Check it out if you want to see the Corey's while they were still in C+ condition.

I have seen plenty worse, trust me.