Cassandra's Dream (2007, Woody Allen)

[Briare]

In Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, two brothers commit a crime to solve their financial woes and the botched crime's consequences end up destroying them in all ways. In Cassandra's Dream there are no consequences. The film watches two broke brothers commit a crime and the crime itself- the doing of the deed begins to eat its way into everyday life. There are no cops, just the criminals themselves- is the crime itself is enough to destroy two people? Its interesting to watch how the two characters struggle with their own personal demons regarding what they've done- one is tortured by the idea of it, while the other is merely concerned about getting caught. In material like this, performances are key and McGregor and Farrell play a sort of reversal of roles than they would normally play and both succeed admirably in nearly every fashion. The film is a well executed portrayal of two types of conscience when committing a heinous deed of any kind- will it torture you, or will you simply live in fear of being caught? Woody utilizes the overcast London skies to underline the melancholy and brooding nature of the film- a storm is raging inside one of these men, but half the fun is guessing which one of them will it eventually be. Tom Wilkinson turns up for a small yet entertaining turn. You can catch most of his performance in the films' trailer.

[***]

[origami_mustache]

This film looks interesting...I usually enjoy McGregor and Woody Allen, however the Critic's Choice section of Film Comment shows 2 bomb's 2 one stars, a two, and then a three star review. I don't base the film's I see on critical response, in fact I usually try to avoid reviews of films I'm interested in. These ratings only make me more interested in the film. I'm just curious as to why such negativity.

[ledfloyd]

woody is my favorite director, and when he meditates on how we live with the things we do he makes some of my favorite films (match point, crimes & misdemeanors, etc.). i look forward to this. despite the overwhelmingly negative word of mouth.

[number8]

I liked it too. It's nothing special and very, very simple, almost to a fault. But Woody's still great with the characterization and dialogue. I think I prefer this kind of Woody Allen. Something with a very simple plot that doesn't need him to push beyond what he does best.