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| Dreamcatcher |
| Genre |
Horror/Stephen King Adaptation |
| Starring |
Jason Lee and Morgan Freeman |
| Director |
Lawrence Kasdan |
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“Dreamcatcher”, directed by Lawrence Kasdan (“Wyatt Earp” and “The Big Chill”) while not a complete disaster, has a number of problems that prevent it from being a satisfying cinematic experience.
Stephen King, one of the most prolific writers of our time, has at best, a spotty track record when it comes to his novels being adapted.
While there are well received efforts such as “Stand by Me”, “The Shawshank Redemption”, “The Shining” and “Misery”, most of his films such as “Thinner”,“The Lawnmower Man” and “Maximum Overdrive” can cause viewers to (perhaps unfairly) question King’s talents as an author.
"Dreamcatcher" begins with four men who've been best friends since childhood: Henry (Thomas Jane), a therapist; Jonesy (Damian Lewis), a professor; Pete (Timothy Olyphant), a car salesman; and a carpenter named Beaver, played by Jason Lee, who showed such potential in “Almost Famous” but continues to star in bad films. I guess this movie along with “Stealing Harvard” and “A Guy Thing” completes his trilogy of high profile crap. These guys have more in common than being junior high school friends; they are all, in varying degrees, psychics.
This is because 20 years ago they defended Douglas "Duddits" Cavell, a retarded boy being bullied by older kids. He's grateful, and in some way he serves as a link for all of them to form a precognitive, psychic network. It isn't high-level or even controllable, but it's there.
There's a breeziness about the early scenes when the friends reunite in an isolated cabin, that while it feels contrived, is enjoyably irreverent and light. But as soon as the group connects with a lost woodsman with a horrible stomach ache, the horror starts, and the story takes a weird, almost nauseating turn.
Military helicopters soon inform them that the entire area has been quarantined and they won't be able to leave for a day or two.
“Dreamcatcher" contains many classic King motifs. The snowed-in, isolated location (“Misery”, “The Shining”). The adolescent pals from Derry Maine, who regroup later in life to defeat a supernatural power (“It”). The child with unworldly powers (“The Shining”, “Firestarter”). The non human power that could save the world (“The Dead Zone”). But, there are also themes ripped off from other people's movies, everything from “Alien”, “Men in Black” to “The Blob.”
The “Men in Black”-ish military-gone-mad subplot involves a Colonel Curtis (Morgan Freeman), a veteran alien hunter, now insane after years of fighting, who plans to wipe out the whole human neighborhood in a final, government-sponsored attempt at eradication.
What fills some 800+ King-size pages, is too much, in this case, for a 2 hour film. Most of the characters and events from the book are there, but they seem compressed and things inevitably begin to seem hurried.
The movie reflects both the strengths and weakness of Stephen King stories. It’s classic King to spend an inordinate amount of time introducing complex and interesting characters and then forget all about their personalities when the action kicks in.
But the film plunges ahead with boisterous imagination, plowing down weak plot threads in pursuit of what is supposed to be a rousing, if not necessarily scary, ending.
I admit that the picture could have been much worse. Faced with some of the worst clichés in the horror film genre, Kasdan does manage to scrape up some credibility and suspense by piecing the film together as a series of cliffhangers.
In the end, “Dreamcatcher” is simply all over the place, at once a movie about a plague, an alien invasion, a perfect storm, a terrible worm, a body snatcher, a mad colonel and an idiot savant.
BOTTOM LINE: “Dream Catcher” doesn’t fail, but it comes close. It’s a less than satisfying film in more than one respect. C to C-
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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