Dream Lover

Kristy McNichol stars as a young flautist in New York City who is asked to join her teacher's jazz group, which means defying her imposing widower-father and moving into her own apartment in the Village. But an attack on her first night away from home--in which she stabs an intruder--plagues her with a recurring nightmare, sending her to a sleep research center. MGM/UA had no idea how to market this admittedly slow, low-keyed yet ambitious thriller from director Alan J. Pakula--and the film pretty much vanished. Still, Pakula presents to us an intriguing scenario and an interesting take on sleep disorders and, though screenwriter Jon Boorstin cheats in his dealings with the heroine's complicated relationship with her father (it seems almost incestual), "Dream Lover" is a chilly, intriguing, ambitious achievement. McNichol gives a very good performance despite being somewhat miscast; the actress was eager to shed her tomboy persona, yet she's all wrong when dolled up in period costumes or gowns (she also draws the line at nudity, with the camera dropping to her feet when she gets out of bed after sex). Still, the actress gives this psychological puzzle an honorable try, and her dreams--four or five different scenarios which overlap and intermingle at the climax--are fascinating. Michael Small composed the eerie, shimmering score. Pakula was awarded the Grand Prize at France's Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival. *** from ****

Kristy McNicol is totally miscast and the ending, the one that takes place outside with the characters teetering on the edge of the skyscraper, was really bad and a groaner, but the rest of the film is pretty good. I'm not a big Pakula fan but I really like his minimalist approach to the somewhat contrived story. The look and feel of the film are my favorite part. The cinematography is excellent. McNicol's NY apartment is one of my favorites in any movie. It's so small and compact but cool. Wish I had it. The recurring dreams have a really unsettling quality to them. I'm impressed that Pakula actually went ahead and had these dream sequence be really become repetitive. I'm sure this turned off a huge portion of the audience but I thought they were really effective because they were so repetitive. The sound design during those nightmares sequences are also worth noting. The dream sequences of McNicol walking down a huge hallway were also amazing. I give the film's production design a huge 10. I wish I could give 10 to the rest of the film but can't. But even with all its faults, DREAM LOVER is a very overlooked movie.

Kristy McNichol plays Kathy Gardner, a jazz flutist who is menaced in her apartment one night by a stranger (Joseph Culp). Later, she suffers recurring nightmares regarding the incident, and in desperation, turns to a sleep / dream researcher named Michael Hansen (Ben Masters) for help. The idea is that she will use some form of "dream therapy" in order to consciously affect the outcome of her dreams.

This material (by writer / co-producer Jon Boorstin) had potential, and certainly the film is creepy at times, but this has to rate as a real off-day for filmmaker Alan J. Pakula, who'd done much better things such as "Klute", "The Parallax View", and "All the President's Men" in the 70s. He doesn't seem particularly invested in the material, and brings no real life to it. In fact, the film is deadly boring and often intensely uninteresting. It indeed moves along at a real snails' pace. Pakula does bring some visual flair to Kathy's dream sequences, but otherwise "Dream Lover" is just too dull to work overall. The sleep center scene in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" was more entertaining in this viewers' eyes.

A good cast (Paul Shenar plays Kathy's father, John McMartin & Gayle Hunnicutt play two family friends) is rather wasted here. Kristy is appealing as always, and Masters gives a likeable performance, but she's been better utilized in other things. Look for the late, great character actor Jon Polito in a small role (minus his trademark mustache).

This over-extended attempt at thrills & chills ultimately goes on too long, and leads to an extremely unimpressive ending. It's too bad, really, because this COULD have been better. The score by Michael Small is one of the films' few virtues.

Four out of 10.

In the opening and closing credits, the filmmakers acknowledge the services of sleep research centers and consultants in the making of this movie. But while there is some educational dialogue about dreams, the main concept - the heroine acting out her dreams - is not as innovative as they seem to think; haven't these people ever heard of the word "sleepwalking"? Kristy McNichol is fine (if one-note) in a demanding role, but director Pakula's pacing is off, the thrills are few, and the finale, with one character apparently transforming into Superman, is ludicrous. (*1/2)

Flutist Kathy Gardner (Kristy McNichol) sidelines her music career with boyfriend Kevin McCann to follow her father to Japan. She has constant nightmares. She is attacked by a disturbed intruder. She kills him in self-defense. Her nightmares get worst and she seeks help from a sleep institute.

This is a paranoid psychological thriller. It's trying to be Hitchcockian or its 80's equivalent, De Palma. It has no tension. It struggles to get kinetic energy. It has moments of intensity but for too long, the movie is sleepwalking through this story. Most of the time, her dreams are not compelling enough. There's maybe a nightmare or two which actually raised the blood pressure. The rest is sleep inducing. It's a muddle. The only blood flow may be coming from Kristy McNichol walking around in her skimpy underwear. This is not good.