In Dreams (1999)

Touches You

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

After her young daughter is abducted & later found murdered, small town children's writer Claire Cooper is driven insane by the knowledge that she predicted her murder but didn't realise it at the time. Placed into a mental hospital, Claire begins having severe nightmares & visions where she can see into the mind of the killer who has been haunting her since childhood. Her husband doesn't believe her, only for himself to turn up as a victim of the killer. Convinced that only she has the power to stop the killer, Claire breaks out of the asylum & makes her way to the killer's hideout in order to save a young girl from becoming his latest victim.Neil Jordan is one of the world's finest directors, having done the acclaimed likes of The Crying Game & the exceptional romantic werewolf fairy tale THE COMPANY OF WOLVES. In Dreams was one of the director's borderline genre films, a blend of psychodrama & slasher flick.In Dreams might not be one of Neil Jordan's best films – in fact it is pretty weak in terms of storyline, with a complicated plot that needs several viewings to fully comprehend – but even with this problem, Jordan still impresses, mainly by way of making evocative visuals. The flooding of the old town, which has divers swimming through a submerged cemetery (that scene alone made me feel uneasy), the dreams that Annette Bening has, which are actually visions of the future, even the haunting rhyme that the killer writes on the walls ("My father was a dollar / I wrote it on a fence / my father was a dollar / not worth a hundred cents") all add up to an interestingly creepy atmosphere. Jordan is also an expert in atmosphere, giving an eerie feeling of dread throughout the film, although this is slightly hamstrung somewhat by the frenzied editing. There are several weak points in the film as well – the story needed a few clarifications on how long Bening has had the visions for; the exact nature of the mind-link with the killer; as well as some needless scenes of destruction that seem to be inserted purely to justify the film's 'thriller' tag. The climax is also pretty weak but is redeemed somewhat by a darkly ironic ending where Bening, now a ghost, haunts Downey Jr's waking moments for karmic payback.The acting is top-notch, although Annette Bening has some trouble getting into the disturbed headspace without doing some glass-munching (the act of doing extreme emotions in an over-the-top manner). As for glass-munching, Robert Downey Jr is perfect as the killer, doing an excellent job of playing a disturbed killer who was traumatised by being left chained up by his mother in the flooding town.

Overacting along with a weak convoluted story make for one shitty movie. So glad I didn't pay to see this film in the theaters. Don't waste your time with this trash. Everyone who acted in this film should be embarrassed to say so. I would question the taste of anyone who claimed that this film is worth watching. I wish I could get back the 90 minutes of my life that I wasted watching this movie. Perhaps DreamWorks can setup a fund to repay all the people who wasted their hard-earned money to see this crappy piece. Please take my advice and don't watch this movie. I don't care how bored you are, you shouldn't watch this movie.

This is what happens when you don't get in to see the film you intended. There we were, looking at alternatives, and I say lets see this. Why? Isn't it obvious? Neil Jordan, Bruce Robinson, both awesome at what they do, Robert Downey Junior, great actor. All I can say is I have never lived picking this film down with my mate and whenever I try to say anything about his taste, he reminds me I picked this. It isn't scary, it isn't interesting, there is no suspense. Maybe Robinson was operating out of his comfort zone, but this film is truly appalling, boring, and occasionally laughably silly. If you want to see something vaguely like this, see 'Fallen' with Denzel Washington, which is much better. Stay away from this.

I'm a car racing nut, and tonight this was up against an F1 race carried live. At the end I chose Bening's and Downey's compelling performances over the end of the race. This is an adult film that keeps you there despite some predictability.Some read into this that Claire Cooper (Bening's character) is the one with the real mental issue. I can see why this thought process occurs to and is helpful for some viewers, but I subscribe to the more "orthodox" view that Vivian Thompson (Robert Downey Jr.) is "the original and the best" when it comes to brain sludge.Some characters need to die in these kinds of movies. Why did it have to be Claire's child Rebecca (Katie Sagona) and husband Paul (Aiden Quinn)? Because we wouldn't care about Claire unless they had died. Will she be believed by her doctors and the Police? Will the Police arrive in time? Will Vivian become sane or judicially killed? Is Claire turning vengeful and "joining the dark side" by getting into Vivian's head at the end, or is it all Vivian? Can you see coming the chase through the apple factory? How about the wrap-up with the water? Okay, so "no metaphor will go un-resolved". So what?! And, writers, please use a male name that's sexual ambiguous rather than sounding 1920s and 30s (I'll say it; "sissy") in the modern age, even if the works in the context of the movie. (Apologies to all the males named Vivian.)