Cassandra's Dream

[megladon8]

Woody Allen once again delivers a thriller set in contemporary London. This time it stars Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson.

Trailer is here. (http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/cassandrasdream/trailer1/)

Over the past year or so I've really been warming up to Woody Allen, so his name has me interested immediately. But I also think both Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor are great actors - the former doesn't get enough recognition because of his public image and his overused "good looking leading male" status for a while, but it seems to have calmed down over the last year or so.

Plus, Tom Wilkinson.

[Mysterious Dude]

Every time I've seen this trailer in theaters, the audience gasps when Woody Allen's name appears at the end.

[megladon8]

Every time I've seen this trailer in theaters, the audience gasps when Woody Allen's name appears at the end.


Really? That's an odd thing to gasp at...

[number8]

I saw this last month. Kinda dug it.

[megladon8]

I saw this last month. Kinda dug it.


Oh cool.

Is it similar to Match Point at all?

[[ETM]]

Plus, Tom Wilkinson.

In-frakkin-deed.

[Rowland]

I'm not expecting much from this. The only high praise I've seen for it was from Jeremy Heilman, who is one of the more inconsistent online critics around, and frankly, I didn't think too highly of Match Point. Hopefully these low expectation will work in my favor.

[Mysterious Dude]

Really? That's an odd thing to gasp at...
Not really. People associate Woody Allen's name with certain things, and nothing in that trailer prepared them for seeing his name at the end.

[Grouchy]

Well, at least Scarlett Johansonn is nowhere to be seen.

It's a great trailer, but I'm weary of recent Woody Allen. The last one of his movies I loved was Sweet and Lowdown. I didn't even like Match Point, I found all that obvious symbology very cheesy.

[Henry Gale]

I thought it was alright.

I think it would have been much more of a standout for Allen if this wasn't the third time in three years he's taken on a Britain-set crime story.

I loved Match Point and even thought that Scoop was an amazingly fun movie. But aside from the cast (especially Farrell) and the odd inspired touches that float in and out of certain scenes, in the end I really thought it was nothing we hadn't seen before, Woody or otherwise. Not an entire waste of time though.

[Lucky]

Match Point was my favorite movie from 2005 and I was one of the rare ones who really liked Scoop, but even I can't muster up any excitement for this movie anymore.

[Derek]

I'm not expecting much from this. The only high praise I've seen for it was from Jeremy Heilman, who is one of the more inconsistent online critics around, and frankly, I didn't think too highly of Match Point. Hopefully these low expectation will work in my favor.

Not to raise your expectations too high, but I didn't like Match Point and ended up liking this quite a bit. It covers a lot of the same themes, but it's looser, giving the characters a bit of room to breathe and allow for some much needed humor. Match Point was taut to the point of being hermetically sealed, plodding mundanely through the film seemingly for the sole purpose of charting Rhys Meyers preordained fate. It felt like Allen addressed most of the issues I had with that film and, in turn, came out with a film that has an actual pulse.

[NickGlass]

I'm preparing myself for the worst.

[Ivan Drago]

I'm preparing myself for the worst.

Like you do for every movie? ;)

[Briare]

I liked it.

Its kind of similar to Before the Devil Knows You're Dead in ways, but adjust expectations accordingly. Its not great but its enjoyable in its own way.

[Velocipedist]

I'm looking forward to this 'cause I love the Woodster, but with very low expectations.

I did enjoy Match Point on a first view (I find it ironic that Allen went to the UK to make fairly Hitchcock-ian movies (well, in scope, really, not that he's actually managed it)), but aside from being rather inclusively and exclusively charming and well-crafted technically, it's redundant and abusive. Not to mention I adore Crimes and Misdemeanors. Scoop was fun! Woody handed himself a hell of a character.

Can't deny I can't wait to see Wilkinson in it though. Oh, and thankfully that horrible music from the trailer isn't in the movie (hopefully! Yes? No?) - Philip Glass scoring a Woody Allen movie?!?

[Henry Gale]

Are they... you know... "those" kind of dreams?

If by about sex you instead mean about a boat, then... yes?

Because (semi-spoiler from the first five minutes regarding the name of the movie):
Cassandra's Dream is just the name of the sailboat they buy early on.

And Glass' music and Wilkinson aren't really all that spectacular either in my opinion. Not because they phone it in or anything, it's just that Wilkinson is in it for only a few scenes and the score just felt a bit out of place and overbearing at times.

[MacGuffin]

If by about sex you instead mean about a boat, then... yes?

Because (semi-spoiler from the first five minutes regarding the name of the movie):
Cassandra's Dream is just the name of the sailboat they buy early on.

And Glass' music and Wilkinson aren't really all that spectacular either in my opinion. Not because they phone it in or anything, it's just that Wilkinson is in it for only a few scenes and the score just felt a bit out of place and overbearing at times.

Huh, I was just kidding.

The movie looks interesting though.

[Henry Gale]

Huh, I was just kidding.

The movie looks interesting though.

Yeah I figured.

But in case you weren't I think it would have been just as understandable seeing as one of the things the trailer goes out of the way to show is McGregor's love interest talking to him about her dream and her playfully saying it predicted what would happen between them, and I somewhat remember assuming that that character was the Cassandra of the title and that her "dreams" would start having more importance to the story (which I think would have been more interesting than anything the film actually does with her character).

[SpaceOddity]

What's going on with their accents?
It's like they've been tutored by Dick van Dyke.

*launches into rendition of Chim Chim Cher-ee*

[Ivan Drago]

Phillip Glass is doing the score. I'm immediately intrigued.

[Ezee E]

Its out in a few theaters but I hear absolutely nothing about it. You'd think a Woody Allen movie would get a little bit of talk, even among the critics.

[Velocipedist]

Its out in a few theaters but I hear absolutely nothing about it. You'd think a Woody Allen movie would get a little bit of talk, even among the critics.

Seldom. Remember all the hoopla that surrounded Match Point? One year after that, I don't remember ever hearing a word about Scoop.

[Ezee E]

Seldom. Remember all the hoopla that surrounded Match Point? One year after that, I don't remember ever hearing a word about Scoop.
I saw several previews of Scoop in theaters at least.

Plus, it was in the mainstream theaters.

[Sycophant]

Woody Allen's public and critical perception is elusive. I can never quite put my finger on it. I expect the man's got roughly ten films left in him. Two of these will be heralded as his comeback picture a la Match Point. The other eight or so will be written off before they open.

[Sycophant]

Oh, wow. Somehow, this is playing my local megaplex and I had no idea. Guess I'd better go see it tomorrow.

[Izzy Black]

Cassandra's Dream is probably one of Allen's most political films since the 80s, as his increasing interest in class differences and economics (though strictly ostensive) seems to have culminated throughout the past decade. The film is an interesting effort, but the lack of any real character development or build-up hurts the film considerably when held up to its counterpart Match Point, for which it must be inevitably associated. The leads give strong performances, but almost all characters are underused. I am skeptical Allen can keep making dramas with his typical run time duration (whereas Match Point is his longest film to date and used its extra time wisely to linger on expository character scenes and exploring the thematic setting). Cassandra's Dream feels forcefully rushed and undercooked, but there are plenty of ideas going on that are worth seeing from the auteur. The fatalistic chance theme is here again on display, but what is much more pronounced, and more interesting, is the relationship between economic opportunism and working-class perceptions, whereas, possibly, the latter leads to a moral dehumanization enabling one to commit immoral acts with little guilt, unless one is truly grounded in the moral allure of a working-class value system. The film is mostly well-shot with a few memorable sequences, but it lacks any real style, while the Glass score seems to be tacked on and put to poor use, thus neglecting the film of any possible atmosphere or cogent tone to complement the story.

[ledfloyd]

I enjoyed this. Nothing special, but not terrible either. It's somewhat funny to me that with Match Point and Cassandra's Dream, Woody has attempted to attack dramatically the same moral dilemmas he covered in Crimes and Misdemeanors. And despite the serious tone he hasn't come anywhere near that film in effect. I prefer Match Point to Cassandra's Dream but it's still entertaining enough to justify the time spent. Just like the former it's more or less technically perfect. Woody really seems to have honed his craft with his last few films. Or maybe he just thinks serious subject matter demands more serious attention to detail.

The ending of this film is pretty heavy, I didn't see it going where it went until it happened. I do share the criticisms that there really isn't enough character development and than the score seems kind of disconnected from the film.

I'll be glad to see Woody move on to other places with his next couple films. It's kind of funny to me how obsessed he is with this subject matter. Did Woody kill someone?

Worth your time if you're a fan.

[Qrazy]

I'm not expecting much from this. The only high praise I've seen for it was from Jeremy Heilman, who is one of the more inconsistent online critics around, and frankly, I didn't think too highly of Match Point. Hopefully these low expectation will work in my favor.

Frankly I thought Match Point was a horrible piece of shit, so I'll wait until rental if at all.

[Izzy Black]

I enjoyed this. Nothing special, but not terrible either. It's somewhat funny to me that with Match Point and Cassandra's Dream, Woody has attempted to attack dramatically the same moral dilemmas he covered in Crimes and Misdemeanors. And despite the serious tone he hasn't come anywhere near that film in effect. I prefer Match Point to Cassandra's Dream but it's still entertaining enough to justify the time spent. Just like the former it's more or less technically perfect. Woody really seems to have honed his craft with his last few films. Or maybe he just thinks serious subject matter demands more serious attention to detail.


How was Cassandra's Dream 'technically perfect?'

[ledfloyd]

How was Cassandra's Dream 'technically perfect?'
perhaps that's the wrong term. perfect is likely overstatement. i just thought it was shot very well and is formally sound.

[Ezee E]

Boy, this had the potential to be great I think. Only it seemed Woody got lazy halfway through and started rushing so that he can get the hell out of England, and move on to Spain. That final act just happened, and then, end.

Meh. Each England movie that Woody did got worse and worse. I'm kind of glad he's moving on.

Colin Farrell also seemed miscast. By the end he was more annoying then anything.

I loved, loved, loved that first act though. And Hayley Atwell is someone that I'm going to start looking for now.

[Ivan Drago]

How was Phillip Glass's score?

[Ezee E]

How was Phillip Glass's score?
i didn't notice that there was a score until the end, which was nothing special.