Claudio Carvalho
The housewife Claire Cooper (Annette Bening) is married with the pilot Paul Cooper (Aidan Quinn) and their little daughter Rebecca (Katie Sagona) is their pride and joy. When a stranger kidnaps a girl, Claire dreams about the man but Detective Jack Kay (Paul Guilfoyle) ignores her concerns. But when Rebecca disappears during a school play, Claire learns that her visions were actually premonitions and she is connected to the killer through her dreams. She has a nervous breakdown and tries to commit suicide. Her psychologist Dr. Silverman (Stephen Rea) sends her to a mental institution and soon she finds that her husband will be the next victim of the serial-killer. Further, the serial-killer was interned in the same cell in the hospital where she is. Will Claire be able to save Paul?"In Dreams" is a deceptive Neil Jordan's movie. The messy story is boring and Annette Bening is hysterical most of the time. There is no explanation for the connection between Claire Cooper and Vivian Thompson and the conclusion is terrible. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "A Premonição" ("The Premonition")
Film Watchin Fool
Why You Might Like It: If you like thrillers that don't necessarily have to be realistic, then you will likely enjoy this film. It also has a nice cast and some superb acting which includes Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr. At the end of the day it is a solid fantasy thriller story that makes for a good product.Why You Might Not Like It: It certainly isn't the most realistic thriller and therefore some might not be interested. There are some slow spots that can lose the interest of the audience if you aren't the most dedicated movie watcher.Acting/Casting: 7.5* - Annette Bening does a great job in the lead role playing Claire Cooper and Robert Downey is solid as the protagonist, Vivian Thompson.Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 5.5* - Outside of a few slow spots, the directing is great and has some cool underwater scenery.Plot/Characters: 5* - It is fairly average story and might have been a little better if it were more realistic in nature.Entertainment Value: 5* - It is going to blow you away, but is your run of the mill thriller that has some great acting and a solid story.My Score: 7.5+5.5+5+5 = 23/4 = 5.75 Email your thoughts to filmwatchinfool@gmail.com
Lee Eisenberg
I've liked pretty much all of Annette Bening's movies, although I did think that Neil Jordan's "In Dreams" should have come out as a little bit more given what all seems to have gone into it. As it is, I've seen lots of movies that portray people's dreams being more than just dreams and possibly showing something evil. This one isn't terrible, but I've seen this sort of thing so many times that there's nothing really new here. The movie's main strength is it's dreary, nearly Gothic setting.So, it's worth seeing maybe once. The movie just might give you a different impression of Annette Bening, plus co-stars Aidan Quinn and Robert Downey Jr.So just remember what Roy Orbison sang...
Peter Ellis
I'm a car racing nut, and tonight this was up against an F1 race carried live. At the end I chose Bening's and Downey's compelling performances over the end of the race. This is an adult film that keeps you there despite some predictability.Some read into this that Claire Cooper (Bening's character) is the one with the real mental issue. I can see why this thought process occurs to and is helpful for some viewers, but I subscribe to the more "orthodox" view that Vivian Thompson (Robert Downey Jr.) is "the original and the best" when it comes to brain sludge.Some characters need to die in these kinds of movies. Why did it have to be Claire's child Rebecca (Katie Sagona) and husband Paul (Aiden Quinn)? Because we wouldn't care about Claire unless they had died. Will she be believed by her doctors and the Police? Will the Police arrive in time? Will Vivian become sane or judicially killed? Is Claire turning vengeful and "joining the dark side" by getting into Vivian's head at the end, or is it all Vivian? Can you see coming the chase through the apple factory? How about the wrap-up with the water? Okay, so "no metaphor will go un-resolved". So what?! And, writers, please use a male name that's sexual ambiguous rather than sounding 1920s and 30s (I'll say it; "sissy") in the modern age, even if the works in the context of the movie. (Apologies to all the males named Vivian.)
AD
