Mean Dreams (2017)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Im always late to the party. I haven't set foot in a theater in 6 years. I guess I'm the guy who just prefers watching movies at home with the ol lady, and we watch a plenty of 'em. 2 maybe 3 a week. That may not seem like many to some folks but it's just the right amount to be able to watch, enjoy (or not) and discuss. MEAN DREAMS is my kinda movie...WHY? Because it's the kind of movie I can relate to. It's basically set in the sort of place I live in. The characters are the sort of people I interact with daily, so therefore it's the type of movie I UNDERSTAND. I'm a wannabe writer for lack of a better term, and I am currently writing a story that I hope becomes a novel, that in turn becomes a screenplay, that in turn becomes a movie. My story is pretty much a first cousin to MEAN DREAMS. so there you go.

Follows Casey and Jonas, two teenagers desperate to escape their broken and abusive homes and examines the desperation of life on the run and the beauty of first love. I can totally see why some viewers did not enjoy 'Mean Dreams' i mean the film got a Fresh Rating of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes when the audience score is actually much lower than that with a 53% for now at least. And in a way it makes sense viewers won't understand the purpose of this tale it's not a revenge thriller or an action movie and it's sure ain't a comedy, this side of the late and great Bill Paxton is way more darker and way more ruthless than his performances in movies such as Terminator, Aliens, Predator 2 and True Lies. It's realistic, it's natural and it's pretty damn good. The kids also do a great job and i can't stop thinking of this movie as a Romeo + Juliet kind of a film but way more depressing and way more serious. Director Nathan Morlando also directs his shots with an extra careful way like shots of woods and cars or a small town but also some beautiful shots of night and day shootings. Overall this is a film that won't please everyone it's dark, depressing and slow but it has levity, great performances and a young love that tries to stay alive threw every tough problem that comes on it's way. (A+)

A very nice last film for Hollywood icon, Bill Paxton. Good movieof young love, a daughter being on the run from your corrupt father, who just so happens to be law enforcement, andBlaze the dog...just loved him. Overall a decent film of boy who meets girl,boy steals from girls abusive father, boy and girl and now on the run fortheir lives. Nothing new here, but this review is more about paying respect tothe late Bill Paxton, who I thought was just hilarious is Aliens andPredator 2. Overall great story and acting by these those young actorsSophie Nélisse and Josh Wiggins. Highly recommended to anyone who likesa good story and wants to pay homage to Paxton. RIP Bill.

The American-Canadian thriller "Mean Dreams" (R, 1:48) is one of two posthumous film releases for Bill Paxton (in addition to 2017's "The Circle", in which he has a small role). When Paxton died suddenly of complications from heart surgery at the age of 61 early in 2017, celebrity expressions of sorrow struck one consistent chord, well represented by Arnold Schwarzenegger's tweet that Paxton "could play any role, but he was best at being Bill – a great human being with a huge heart." In Paxton's most famous roles, he was an ordinary, basically decent guy caught up in extraordinary circumstances (as he was in "Apollo 13", "Twister", "Titanic" and "U-571"). He was also very good at playing tough and/or morally ambiguous characters (as he did in "Aliens", "A Simple Plan", "Edge of Tomorrow" and his award-winning HBO series "Big Love"), and some of his best work was as a basically bad person (as in "Weird Science", "True Lies", "Frailty" (which he also directed) and "Training Day", the TV series he was acting in when he died). "Mean Dreams" is another great example of Paxton playing against his true personality.In this film, Paxton plays Wayne Caraway, a rural Michigan police officer and single dad, who is pretty bad at both roles – and a pretty bad person in general. When local boy Jonas Ford (Josh Wiggins, the star of 2015's "Max") starts seeing Wayne's teenage daughter, Casey (Sophie Nélisse, who played the title role in 2013's "The Book Thief"), Wayne is pretty… mean about shattering Jonas' dreams of getting closer to Casey. Mostly it's because Jonas isn't shy about trying to protect Casey from Wayne's abuse, and because Wayne doesn't want Jonas nosing around and discovering any of his other... activities.After Jonas fails to get his father (Joe Cobden) or Wayne's boss (Colm Feore) to intervene on Casey's behalf, he takes matters into his own hands. When he witnesses an example of just how bad a man that Wayne is, Jonas steals some money, grabs Casey and hits the road. Of course, Wayne comes after his daughter – with a (literal) vengeance. As Jonas and Casey struggle to get away from Casey's dad for good, they confront the harsh realities of life on the run (especially as it pertains to two teenagers in the middle of nowhere), break some laws and put their safety and the safety of others at risk along the way."Mean Dreams" is a small, but entertaining coming-of-age movie. The two teen protagonists aren't quite Bonnie and Clyde, but their saga is engaging and their love story is affecting. Nélisse and Wiggins are two rising young stars whose emerging talents shine through in sympathetic roles and Paxton does his usual expert work as one really bad dude. The script (by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby) and the direction (by Nathan Morlando) keep the action and dialog both unusually grounded and fairly unpredictable, especially for this kind of film. The score and the cinematography (filmed creatively and beautifully in northern Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie) are also very good, especially for a movie made on a small budget. The film is a bit lacking in gravitas, but it's worth a look – to see Paxton in his last major role – and for the overall quality of the film itself. "B+"