Viking Night: Dreamscape
By Bruce Hall
September 24, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Dreamscape has a lot going for it. It’s got the awesomeness of Dennis Quaid. It’s got the one-two punch of Max von Sydow and Christopher Plummer, which is like having Ian McKellan and Patrick Stuart, except they’re kind of both Ian McKellan. It’s got Norm from Cheers, Indiana Jones’ ex-girlfriend, the husband from Green Acres and all in all, a pretty cool premise: What if powerful psychics had the power to project themselves into your dreams and influence your behavior? And what if sinister forces were determined to use that power for their own spooky needs?
Personally, I think that sounds pretty sweet, but that’s because I have an active imagination. In my hands, Dreamscape would include cyborg wizards riding dinosaurs and shooting lightning at each other on top of a volcano. In the hands of director Joseph Ruben (and with an assist from two other screenwriters), it plays out closer to a live action Dean Koontz novel. That means it’s got a lot of things wrong with it, too. The story is kind of obvious, and it lurches forward in fits and starts. The musical soundtrack (by Academy Award nominee Maurice Jarre) sounds like someone gave a monkey ten minutes with a keyboard and a tape deck. And yet dreamscape has its moments, even daring to flirt with outright mediocrity from time to time.
It’s not Cool Hand Luke or Silence of the Lambs, but Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) gets a pretty slick intro. Once a promising psychic, he has put the academic pursuits behind him and is using his powers to make easy money betting on horses. He’s cocky and proud as he coolly watches a race go his way, the winner circled in red on the newspaper tucked under his arm as the camera sweeps in. It’s a rare early high point, and it’s designed to show you that when one can see the future, betting on horses is easy business. What’s not is avoiding one’s competition, the kind of lowlifes who’d try to make an easy buck off someone else’s cheating. I know what you’re thinking: Alex seems a lot like a regular, everyday mind-reading kid who has traded the gift of serving humanity for easy money and cheap girls.
Funny you should say that, because it’s the exact reason someone else is looking for him, too. Eventually a couple of goons scoop him off the sidewalk and drop him off at a university, where he acquaints himself with the beautiful Dr. Jane DeVries (Kate Capshaw). After hitting on her like a frat boy, Alex discovers that she is a scientist working for his mentor, Dr. Paul Novotny (Max von Sydow). Novotny has devoted his life to parapsychology, and has developed a machine that allows psychics to enter someone’s dreams. The goal is to help cure people with sleep disorders, and the Doctor wants his prize pupil to be a part of it. Alex balks, but isn’t quite psychic enough to see Novotny’s blackmail coming. He’s also got the hots for Dr. Jane (who likes him back because she’s written that way), so before you know it Alex is happily helping middle aged guys overcome their erectile dysfunction through dream therapy.
I know that sounds like a happy ending already, but unfortunately there’s more. Enter Tommy Ray Glatman, who we know is evil because just like the guy who plays him (David Patrick Kelly), he’s got three names and squinty eyes. Tommy is jealous of Alex’s newfound success (but not of Dr. Jane, which is weird), and seems incredibly unstable for someone whose job involves being inside other people’s heads. And Novotny has his own rival - a creepy guy named Bob (Christopher Plummer) who has a $400 haircut and a lifeless smile thin enough to cut a block of parmesan. Bob seems to be in charge, but in that way people appear when they don’t want to look like they’re in charge. Something sinister is going on here, and Alex’s character arc tells us that his potential transformation from boy to man will be determined by it.
I’d like to say that Dreamscape is a tight, fast paced thriller with a generous hint of romance and just enough science fiction to make it interesting - because it sure wants to be. And I would say that it succeeds, except it’s not much of a thriller, and it’s only interesting in isolated spots. Part of the problem is the mostly horrible dialogue. At times it feels improvised and unrehearsed, so much so that the script’s occasional sci-fi technobabble manages to be among the least ridiculous stuff spoken. I wouldn’t say it kills the momentum, but it keeps it from ever really getting started. Every few minutes something comes out of someone’s mouth that seems so out of context it pulls you out of the movie, and you find yourself thinking you were pretty sure someone said “dream knife”, which would be a great name for a speed metal band.
There’s also the annoying way the plot occasionally advances itself by having a character just appear and literally drag Alex into the next scene. I don’t know if it was meant to be a joke, but it happens at least three times and it’s hard not to chuckle as once again, something takes you out of the film. On the upside, I didn’t expect the most fascinating parts of Dreamscape to be the sleep world itself. It would be kind to call the visual effects “primitive”, but I found myself thinking about how well the dream scenes mimic the disorientation you sometimes feel while you’re snoozing. Unfortunately most of the movie itself has that same incongruous feeling. Despite a clever concept and an interesting cast, Dreamscape isn’t likely to stay with you for as long as the time I dreamed about cyborg wizards riding dinosaurs and shooting lightning at each other on top of a volcano.