Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is a self-conscious sleaze, and a college professor with tenor, who won’t stop rabbiting on about writing a book he hasn’t even started. Through a series of odd tidbits, the world, and Paul, discover that Paul is showing up in an excessive number of random people’s dreams – people who know him and people who don’t – and Paul becomes a phenomenon. He doesn’t really do anything in these dreams, at least initially, as he just wanders through them, but it’s enough for this mundane and unworthy man to experience the choppy waters of instant fame.
What has happened to movies? I’m not having fun 😕 In a nutshell, the first twenty minutes of this movie holds a really interesting and original setup, but the movie doesn’t do anything with it. The literal dream scenarios are the movie’s best parts – writer and director Kristoffer Borgli could’ve gotten away with making this movie without them, without filming crocodiles underneath grand pianos and the likes, but Dream Scenario wouldn’t have been as alluring without them, and that’s saying something. This movie has critical acclaim, and I can’t see why. The beginning of Dream Scenario is freaky, as it’s weird to think of a person invading the sanctity of our subconscious, even if they appear placid or don’t even mean to be there. It all lends to a feeling that this is ridiculous, but in a good way, and the strangest part is that this couldn’t be happening with a seemingly less deserving person in Paul. Nicolas Cage is really good. Julianne Nicholson has a bit-part but makes it work. I felt sorry for Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Paul’s relationship, especially when Janet tells her husband a sexual fantasy and Paul scoffs at it when he could’ve just simply made it come true – meanie. That’s only one instance that indicates to me how self-absorbed Paul can be since he doesn’t believe in himself. It’s also interesting, watching Paul, with no integrity, trying to have integrity, during his first meeting with Micheal Cera’s media management character, and finding himself completely out of depth. And it’s enticingly voyeuristic watching the scene play out between Paul and the girl who has dreamed of having sex with him, Molly (Dylan Gelula). Nic Cage delights us with another Nic-Cage-face at that point, farting while coming at the same time, which should add another chapter to Abed’s Community debate on Nic Cage: Good or Bad? 😆
But is the answer to this phenomenon that Paul needs to get off his hands and write his damn book? And deal with his anger at being second to the source since his old college colleague has now scooped him? Because if it’s not that, then I don’t know what else it could be, for the movie offers no alternative, and, frankly, little possible explanation at all. And the mystery doesn’t stay intriguing for long. I also thought that the dreams might be leading Paul to some self-discovery – like the fact that since Molly has dreamt of having sex with Paul, it would lead to Paul cheating on his wife, and through an unorthodox journey, Paul might come out the end with some personal salvation. Ultimately, the movie isn’t obligated to give us any rhyme or reason, but it does have to contain an energetic pop with what it does put on the screen, and I didn’t find it beyond the initial premise. What we basically get, is a story where a well-to-do person loses everything and is shunned from society, which is something we’ve seen many times before – Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, that one episode of Black Mirror with Bryce Dallas Howard, or where the premise oozed sophistication last year in Tár. The only difference in this ‘dream’ scenario is that it’s completely out of Paul’s hands, and the realm of probability too. Something like Being John Malkovich, offers the same unworldly quirkiness, and is much better, where here we start with an interesting mystery, and end with Paul wishing his marriage hadn’t broken up, without enough character transformation in between to make it worthwhile.
The way the movie tries to infuse social relevance is also weak. Mentioning Jordan Peterson as alt-right? 🙄 that’s an easy one. The movie is like a yuppie reimagining of Freddy Kruger – if Paul kills you, you get to talk about your trauma, and the dream warriors are now a substitute for a new innovative media platform where Brads and Chads can advertise in your dreams 🙄 The real enemy is getting old and becoming bland. It’s pretty funny for this point of view actually – but I’m laughing at the movie, not with it. By the time the Norio information is being setup, and the voiceover is beginning its preamble on Paul’s life, I was doing finger-circles in the air and everything, indicating “wrap it up! Movie, please”. And by the end, I’m sadder for Paul that he doesn’t get a redeeming answer as to what is going on, more than I am for myself.
Although I’ve dreamt of rejuvenating the famous franchise myself, if you want to see A Nightmare on Elm Street, see A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dream Scenario starts with an interesting premise, but ends off-track – at first, I thought pacing issues were getting me down, but I conclude that the trouble is with the lack of content overall. You wouldn’t dream about it!! Watch the first twenty minutes of this distasteful disappointment and turn it off.
2.0
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