Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Sept 8, 2016 16:11:56 GMT -5
Cassandra's Dream
Dir. Woody Allen
Premiered October 31, 2007
I don’t know if Cassandra’s Dream ever actually got shown in the United States, but it seems to have come up now and again as evidence that Woody Allen long ago stopped caring about the movies he made. Never mind that it came out between Allen’s critically acclaimed Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, or that any filmmaker as prolific as Allen will put out a lot of forgettable, insignificant work (looking at you, Messrs. Eastwood, Scott, and Winterbottom); Cassandra’s Dream was a canonical misfire.
Not that the critics were entirely wrong. It’s certainly weird to see Allen’s trademark austere opening credits begin a British crime thriller.
Working-class brothers Ian (Ewan MacGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) are hard-up for cash. Aspiring property developer and wannabe playboy Ian dreams of getting out of the family restaurant business and investing in California hotels with his newest flame, up-and-coming actress Angela (Hayley Atwell). Auto mechanic Terry, meanwhile, struggles with gambling addiction; when his luck runs out, he’s £90,000 in the hole.
Luckily, their wealthy and generous uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) comes visiting, and offers the boys a solution: in exchange for his money, they will assassinate his business partner Martin Burns (Phil Davis), who’s threatening to testify against Howard for his many undisclosed corporate crimes.
Cassandra’s Dream starts out slowly– what would normally be called Act I comprises nearly half the movie– then rushes almost absentmindedly toward and awkward conclusion. It’s quite stagey and uneasy with exposition, but manages to undercut its own payoff at the very end. The film handles tension well, but much of the film feels as if it was originally written as a comedy, and probably should have stayed that way. At the time, Cassandra’s Dream was hampered by coming on the heels of a far better family crime drama, but while it’s not as bad as it may have seemed on its own, it’s another Woody Allen film you don’t need to see.
Sign This Was Made in 2007
Howard is very excited about opening a plastic surgery clinic in the emerging Chinese market. “There’s a trade surplus opening up!”
Next Time: American Gangster
Dir. Woody Allen
Premiered October 31, 2007
I don’t know if Cassandra’s Dream ever actually got shown in the United States, but it seems to have come up now and again as evidence that Woody Allen long ago stopped caring about the movies he made. Never mind that it came out between Allen’s critically acclaimed Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, or that any filmmaker as prolific as Allen will put out a lot of forgettable, insignificant work (looking at you, Messrs. Eastwood, Scott, and Winterbottom); Cassandra’s Dream was a canonical misfire.
Not that the critics were entirely wrong. It’s certainly weird to see Allen’s trademark austere opening credits begin a British crime thriller.
Working-class brothers Ian (Ewan MacGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) are hard-up for cash. Aspiring property developer and wannabe playboy Ian dreams of getting out of the family restaurant business and investing in California hotels with his newest flame, up-and-coming actress Angela (Hayley Atwell). Auto mechanic Terry, meanwhile, struggles with gambling addiction; when his luck runs out, he’s £90,000 in the hole.
Luckily, their wealthy and generous uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) comes visiting, and offers the boys a solution: in exchange for his money, they will assassinate his business partner Martin Burns (Phil Davis), who’s threatening to testify against Howard for his many undisclosed corporate crimes.
Cassandra’s Dream starts out slowly– what would normally be called Act I comprises nearly half the movie– then rushes almost absentmindedly toward and awkward conclusion. It’s quite stagey and uneasy with exposition, but manages to undercut its own payoff at the very end. The film handles tension well, but much of the film feels as if it was originally written as a comedy, and probably should have stayed that way. At the time, Cassandra’s Dream was hampered by coming on the heels of a far better family crime drama, but while it’s not as bad as it may have seemed on its own, it’s another Woody Allen film you don’t need to see.
Sign This Was Made in 2007
Howard is very excited about opening a plastic surgery clinic in the emerging Chinese market. “There’s a trade surplus opening up!”
Next Time: American Gangster
