Cassandra's Dream (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
What happens when 'crime drama' meets 'boring'? You get 'Cassandra's Dream', written & directed by Woody Allen. 2 brothers, Ian & Terry (Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell), have some serious finance issues. With 2 girlfriends to look after, Angela & Kate (Hayley Atwell, Sally Hawkins), the brothers turn to wealthy Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) for guidance & monitary assistance. He agrees to help them ... if they'd help him. Howard's finances are under investigation, and he asks his nephews to 'take care of' a former colleague who could possibly testify against him in court. As one can assume, things go badly. And each brother handles the pressures of this situation quite differently. The film isn't awful, per say. But this is a drama with NO drama in it. It's flat & lifeless.
Not only are these guys brothers, but they're best friends. Ian has big dreams of moving to California with Angela. And Terry is deeply in debt to some loan sharks thanks to his gambling problems. They both need $$, and now. This is when Uncle Howard steps in with his 'compromise'. At first, the nephews are obviously stunned, shocked, & resistant to do anything that resembles killing a man. Howard becomes irate, exclaiming, "Family is family, blood is blood!" Because Ian & Terry are desperate, they agree to become his hit men. Half of the film is the set-up to the 'event'. The other half is the psychological courses that these men take. Ian is invigorated by what has happened to his life, while Terry enters a suicidal downward spiral. It's this 2nd half of the film where things go all wrong.
You know, I usually enjoy Woody Allen films. I like the pace of his films, the dark comedy, the choice of music sprinkled throughout, & a tidiness (of which this film has, as well) of the plot. The acting is fine. Tom Wilkinson is as good as ever, though he's more of a plot device, than an actual character. And surprisingly, Colin Farrell is most effective as a decent man with many weaknesses. Watching his self-loathing & moral descent is something to behold. The film is watchable. And I could say that it offers a convincing meditation on greed, desire, & murder, but there's not enough energy and wit to carry everything through.
To call this a psychological thriller would be incorrect; it's pretty lame in that department. The dialogue is too heavy on metaphor (for a drama). It's a predictable film; not the ending, but the general trajectory of what 'will' occur. When the movie ended, all I can think was, 'Well, THAT didn't offer me anything new'. Most of the 2nd half focuses on Terry's woefulness than anything else. Nowhere are the electric, insightful moral ambiguities that Allen's Match Point possessed. The concept of killing with or without remorse is there, but it's not fully realized. There's no dark humor in 'Cassandra's Dream', no real sense of danger, no atmosphere. The romances (and general characterizations) are shallow. Again, not a disaster, but this is a dull effort put forth by Allen.
Not only are these guys brothers, but they're best friends. Ian has big dreams of moving to California with Angela. And Terry is deeply in debt to some loan sharks thanks to his gambling problems. They both need $$, and now. This is when Uncle Howard steps in with his 'compromise'. At first, the nephews are obviously stunned, shocked, & resistant to do anything that resembles killing a man. Howard becomes irate, exclaiming, "Family is family, blood is blood!" Because Ian & Terry are desperate, they agree to become his hit men. Half of the film is the set-up to the 'event'. The other half is the psychological courses that these men take. Ian is invigorated by what has happened to his life, while Terry enters a suicidal downward spiral. It's this 2nd half of the film where things go all wrong.
You know, I usually enjoy Woody Allen films. I like the pace of his films, the dark comedy, the choice of music sprinkled throughout, & a tidiness (of which this film has, as well) of the plot. The acting is fine. Tom Wilkinson is as good as ever, though he's more of a plot device, than an actual character. And surprisingly, Colin Farrell is most effective as a decent man with many weaknesses. Watching his self-loathing & moral descent is something to behold. The film is watchable. And I could say that it offers a convincing meditation on greed, desire, & murder, but there's not enough energy and wit to carry everything through.
To call this a psychological thriller would be incorrect; it's pretty lame in that department. The dialogue is too heavy on metaphor (for a drama). It's a predictable film; not the ending, but the general trajectory of what 'will' occur. When the movie ended, all I can think was, 'Well, THAT didn't offer me anything new'. Most of the 2nd half focuses on Terry's woefulness than anything else. Nowhere are the electric, insightful moral ambiguities that Allen's Match Point possessed. The concept of killing with or without remorse is there, but it's not fully realized. There's no dark humor in 'Cassandra's Dream', no real sense of danger, no atmosphere. The romances (and general characterizations) are shallow. Again, not a disaster, but this is a dull effort put forth by Allen.