In Dreams

Rating:
Summary: Vivian
Review: The most intriguing character in this entire movie was Vivian Thompson. Robert Downey Jr. plays the role so fantastically. He's twisted and frightening in a sexy way. It's very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: patience is a virtue: if you have it watch this film
Review: This film is yet another overlooked Hollywood gem. Robert Downey proves he is a talented actor, and Annette does wonders with her role as well.

The pacing of the film is slow, so be warned. If you can deal with that you won't be disapointed with this film.

I believe this film is one of the best thrillers Hollywood has made. The fact that there are people who didn't like this film amazes me.

Have patience? Like suspense and surreal filmmaking? Rent this film!

Rating:
Summary: Silence of the lambs meets Alley McBeal...!
Review: 'Good on you', Annette. She really puts her all into this movie. Sadly it's not enough. The rest of the cast seem to sleep walk through the entire length of the film. Hello! Stephen Rea - I swear to God his performance was so wooden, I doubt he even bent at the knees as he crossed the screen. The Cinematography is lovely, especially the underwater town (I'm a diver) but the story really goes awry, the characters show little concern for the plot, and Robert Downey. Jr plays Psycho like Bob Dylan, sans Guitar. The finale is straight out of a soap opera (did they run out of film, couldn't afford a less hammy performance?) Honestly, if you appreciate good mysteries and a good tale, if you want to be scared and convinced that something terrible is happening, then watch Alley McBeal, it's right up there with 'In Dreams'.

Rating:
Summary: Downey rose above some pretty bad material.
Review: As much as I LOVE Robert Downey Jr., even he couldn't salvage this piece of garbage. He did a good job with what he had to work with. His talents were wasted in this film. I don't even think it deserves one star, but the ratings didn't go lower! Sorry.

Rating:
Summary: THIS AIN'T NO BAD APPLE
Review: Neil Jordans chilling psychodrama thriller In Dreams is a movie that will always come up on my list for the most impacting,disturbing films I have ever seen. It's wild, wacky, dark and absurd... and oh how it works. This is a film like no other- and Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant in this obscur performance. Annette Benning is her wonderful paranoid self in this thrill ride thriller. It will haunt you for days. I'm still haunted, two years later...

Rating:
Summary: A Chilling Psychological Thriller
Review: I'm a die hard Robert Downey, Jr. fan, so I typically rent any movie that he's in. I got "In Dreams" expecting a run of the mill, Scream-esque horror movie. What I got was the best thriller I've seen since Halloween H20.

In a movie that brilliantly revolves around a type of Snow White theme involving apples, Annette Bening plays Claire Cooper, a woman haunted by clairvoyant dreams.

When a gender shifting killer (Robert Downey, Jr.) invades Claire's dreams, his plans are conveyed to her and wreak havoc on her life and family.

Claire slowly goes insane as the killer, Vivian Thompson, feeds her clues to his next killings bit by bit. She slowly uncovers Vivian's terrifying story in a sequence of coincidental events.

The most chilling aspects of the movie are the least obvious, such as the haunting peace of the underwater town, the Northfield Reservoir, and the cleverly frightening insertions of the Andrews Sisters' song "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree". Also, Vivian's "nursery rhyme" is one that's been staying with me for a while, proving how good and genuinely scary this movie really is.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting, moving, emotional, and totally involving!
Review: Perhaps one of the most evocative thrillers ever created for film, "In Dreams" is one of the most visually and psychologically stunning films that has ever come to the silver screen. It isn't very often that I can say this about a film and mean every word of it; even the best of movies have their flaws. Personally, I found this one to be quite flawless. The story and actors work together in every way possible to make the movie flow at a steady pace, and in the end, everything that is supposed to make sense does.

Annette Bening is Claire Cooper, wife of an airline pilot, mother of a little girl, and illustrator of childrens books. The family lives in a town that sits near a reservoir, which covers a ghost town that was abandoned in order for the reservoir to be built. Claire is beginning to have strange dreams as soon as the film begins, one being a little girl who is led into an orchard-like place full of apples by a long-haired individual. Soon after, her daughter is abducted from a school play, causing Claire to realize that the dreams she is having are visions of the future, believing that the killer is channeling them into her mind in order for her to find him. After they find the body of her daughter, Claire runs her car off the dam, ultimately surviving the fall and going into a coma for six months. During this period, she has visions of an orchard filled with apples, nursery rhymes written in blood on a wall, and a small boy tied to a bed in a room slowly filling with water. Going home from the hospital proves to be a bad decision, and after much mayhem, she is put into a mental institution, where she begins having dreams about the death of her husband. As the dreams keep coming, people keep thinking that she is crazy, until she finally escapes to find herself face-to-face with the killer himself, who has a dangerous surprise for her.

Little can be said to denounce the film; it simply is that good. What really keeps it moving are the macabre images of decay and death the pervade throughout the entire movie, keeping in touch with the sinister environment that is necessary for the movie's story. The images of the haunting dreams are the most significant, and these scenes are shot with poor color clarity and slightly soft-edged images to complete the sense of surrealism. The underwater photography used in filming the reservoir sequences is stupendous, and quite frightening as well. Moviegoers expect to see a sunken ship or marine vessel underneath the surface of water, but to see a town completely covered with water is a whole new ball game, a game that seems to have won. There is not an over-abundance of blood or gore in the film; scenes include a second-long shot of a dog eating a corpse, a man wearing sunglasses being stabbed in the eye, and a woman with slit wrists that hardly bleed.

The story is based on the novel "Doll's Eyes," written by Bari Wood, and screenwriters Bruce Robinson and Neil Jordan, who also directed the piece, have done a masterful job in bringing to the story a sense of overwhelming suspense and uncertainty. The truly magnificent aspect of the story is that everything that happens in the beginning and middle will all be tied back together in the end, making for a very satisfying and involving thriller.

The performances by the actors also make the movie enjoyable. This is, without a doubt, the best of Annette Bening's films, encompassing even her performance in American Beauty. This is clearly her movie, as she will be the centrifuge for all that goes on throughout the entire experience. Robert Downey, Jr. is a perfect psychotic, his long, dirty hair and sensational eyes pierce right into the subconscious of those who see him act in this movie, the element that creates the upset in Claire's life. Aidan Quinn is a convincing husband, though I did not particularly care for the way in which the character of the husband is portrayed; he could've been a little more sensitive to his wife's feelings. Stephen Rea plays the doctor who refuses to give up on Claire, and he does a good job in carrying us with him in his quest for the truth, even if that quest picks up later than is needed.

Under the glorious direction of Neil Jordan, "In Dreams" is a perfect and almost sparkling example of terrific thriller-making. It may well be said that this is the best movie I have ever seen in a long time, simply for the fact that it is solid entertainment that never stops moving, even if its audiences cannot keep up.

Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable
Review: I liked this movie a lot, the visual effects were amazing. Who'd have thought a movie could make you fear apples? I remember seeing that it was based on a book with a different title, but I haven't been able to track it down. Does anyone know the title or author, or where I could get a copy? Thanks!

Rating:
Summary: Positively Brilliant!
Review: This movie is a must see. It's absolutely thrilling. And is also beautiful. The plot is good, although somewhat confusing if you don't pay close attention. The actors are also excellent! Annette Bening is superb! Aidan Quinn and Robert Downey Jr. are equally good in this thrill ride of a film. If you want to see a great movie, take my advice and watch this one!

Rating:
Summary: See This Film
Review: This brilliant and unsettling film received lackluster reviews during its' brief theatrical release, a fact that puzzles me. Suspenseful, disturbing, beautifully photographed, In Dreams also has a strong cast and a decent, believable script.The complex way Annette Benning portrayed Claire Cooper, a clairvoyant and illustrator, stunned me both as an actress and filmwatcher. Too deep to be a horror flick, too cerebral, perhaps, for the masses, but a must-see.