In Dreams

I've liked pretty much all of Annette Bening's movies, although I did think that Neil Jordan's "In Dreams" should have come out as a little bit more given what all seems to have gone into it. As it is, I've seen lots of movies that portray people's dreams being more than just dreams and possibly showing something evil. This one isn't terrible, but I've seen this sort of thing so many times that there's nothing really new here. The movie's main strength is it's dreary, nearly Gothic setting.

So, it's worth seeing maybe once. The movie just might give you a different impression of Annette Bening, plus co-stars Aidan Quinn and Robert Downey Jr.

So just remember what Roy Orbison sang...

This film was indeed a nightmare - a solid cast with a very poor script and a lot of pretty pictures and great sets. An art director's dream come true.

So here's this cool opening premise of an underwater ghost-town that just kind of gets lost somewhere along the way. I was intrigued at the beginning, and by the end (with the Carrie-esque sequence) I was howling at what a mess this film had become. Can't quite figure out how this obviously upper middle class woman gets put in an asylum that makes Cuckoo's Nest's digs look like the Ritz. Guess Mr. Jordan decided that would look better.

I enjoyed the previous comments about how the apple factory happened to have such fresh product since the only occupant was a crazed Anthony Perkins wanna-be. I too had questions about that little stretch. Of course you must suspend some disbelief for any horror film - but this one just asked a little too much of the audience. Rent it if you want to see Annette Benning embarrass herself but look good doing it.

Apples, Apples, Apples, that's what everyone keeps saying about this film. Perhaps it was a little overdone, but did anyone ever stop to think that the apples were representative of Clair's fear. The apple, the most innocent of all things, a fruit, as the repository of one's own nightmares and fears is creepy enough in itself. Many regard the scene where Clair is frantically throwing apples from a pile on the cupboard into the garburator of the sink as funny. I didn't I was well enough into the film, that the moment actually felt creepy. Jordan's vicious left/right pans of the camera reinforced her feeling of panic or anxiety around the apples.

To mention a couple of the other good points about "In Dreams", there were a couple of ingenious cross cutting scenes created. The first is a cross cut sequence involving Clair who is now in the mental hospital and her husband who goes to the motel that she dreamed about to find the dog. Another wonderful cross-cut sequence involves the escape from the institution. In her dreams, Clair follows Vivian (who had spent time in the exact same room as Clair) out of the institution, and there is much cross-cutting between the past and the present. Much suspense was built in the production of this scene. I don't want to give away any of the ending, but trust me, it scared me lifeless. This is definitely not Neil Jordan's best work, certainly "The Crying Game" is his masterpiece, but nevertheless, this is an original horror suspense film that delivers a punch!

The stage curtains open ...

The first time I watched this movie, it was when it first came out in 1999. Back then, I wasn't too crazy about it, and had I written a review for it at that time, it would have been with a low star rating. However, for some reason, I decided to give it another go a few nights ago, over 20 years later, and see if my viewpoint had changed. And surprise, surprise! It actually did, as I will explain in more detail below.

But first, what it's about. Annette Bening plays the part of Claire, the wife of an airline pilot and the mother of a little girl, who is plagued by nightmarish dreams of an underwater city and the murders of young girls. When her own daughter goes missing and then turns up dead as well, it pushes Clair over the edge into a whirlwind of insanity as her dreams continue and intensify. When she begins to see events in her dreams before they happen, she believes she is telepathically linked to the killer himself which sends her down a very dark and very deadly path.

This movie moves at a very rapid pace. You never really get a chance to catch your breath, obviously in an attempt to carry us (as the viewers) down into the same feel and state of chaos as being experienced by Claire as the story develops. This movie had to have been nerve racking for Annette Bening to be in. Her emotions were pushed to the extreme, and she had to do a convincing job, which I felt she did. They kept our killer in the dark for most of the movie, only showing us what he looked like towards the end. And when we do see him finally, he is truly a very frightening individual.

I do recommend this one. I enjoyed it much more the 2nd time around. They did an effective job of throwing you into a very insane, confusing situation without ever losing control of it. It is very dark, with strong themes (ie: water, apples, dreams), and the colors used are pronounced and really add another dimension to the overall feel. I give "In Dreams" a very strong 7 stars out of 10.

In Dreams is fairly intriguing for a good portion of its run time. Annette Bening plays a woman tormented with visions of a serial killer luring a little girl away in an apple orchard. When her little girl becomes the latest victim of the killer, she goes on a mission to stop the killer before they can claim another victim. Of course that's easier said than done when everyone thinks you're insane and they want to lock you away in an asylum.

Neil Jordan fills In Dreams with tons of style and beautiful cinematography, but the story itself falls apart a little after midway through. After such an intriguing set up, the film can't help but disappoint once our leading lady meets up with the killer and they try to explain why they're doing it. It quickly becomes tedious and dull.

The usually excellent Bening is a bit of a histrionic, manic mess here and a lot of her line readings inspire more laughter than anything else. She's playing to the back of the house and it's equal parts deliciously campy and infuriating because it renders her character less a real person and more of a performance.

In Dreams still has a few things going for it. It's rich in dreamlike, fairy tale mood, so if that's something you like, you might find that's enough to keep you interested, but the story itself isn't very memorable.