The Mosley Review: Dream Scenario
If there's a concept that can be explored in an almost infinite amount of ways, its a dream. Some have taken the route of exploring the subconscious theories of how your mind works while we sleep. Others have explored their deeper meanings and how they may inform you of your mental state or reflection of daily life. Aside from the the fun notion of what Christopher Nolan's Inception introduced about the invasion and control of dreams, I haven't really seen anyone tackle the idea of a shared dream experience. That feeling of deja vu is real and sometimes a few of my friends have had the same dream or variation of it. This film explores that concept in an interesting, twisted and twilight zone style that is both sad and hilarious. I loved that it really didn't focus on the why, but more on the effects of the world around the central character. What I really dug was how the character's life effected the dreams of others in a variety of ways that are expected and unexpected. Its that creativity that made for a good reveal each time and the performances really sell the more macabre nature of the dreams.
Nicholas Cage delivers his trademark charm as Paul Matthews. He was very relatable and I liked the small scale of his story. His life quickly goes from the looming mid life crisis to super stardom to nightmare in a rapid pace and it was fun to watch his reactions to it all and sometimes heartbreaking. His constant search for validation and attention was well portrayed. Once the sequences of him appearing in the dreams of others, the film explores just about every scenario with being too graphic. Cage's performance in them and his reactions to what people describe were all great and sometimes horrifying. Julianne Nicholson was excellent as his wife and their chemistry was fantastic. The amount of micro-reactions to certain conversations where Paul was the center of attention were excellent. The amount of heartbreak in her eyes as things become crazier around her family was fascinating and tense. Tim Meadows as Brett, the dean of Paul’s college, was really good and straight with Paul. He probably was his only friend that he could go to for advice and it made for some tough scenes. Michael Cera was perfect as Trent, the lead of a viral marketing firm. He has his moment of quirk, but it doesn't over power the scene. His scenes were so cold as it was another reminder of how Paul became a product instead of being treated like a human being. Dylan Gelula was also great as Trent's assistant, Molly. The scenes with her and Paul let you know where these dreams could go, but I'm glad it wasn't gratuitous. Their climatic scene actually made for one of the more awkward and sad scenes in the film.
The score by Owen Pallett was good and the perfect amount of light and dreamlike when it was present. The film was really well shot and the different dreams that happen all have their own since of flair or distinct sense of comedy and horror. Its a small and personal film that has the standard social commentary about the way society has gotten so sensitive and the lack of human connection is waning and how everything can becomes monetized. Over all, I enjoyed it and I do recommend for a fun take on dreams. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!
