Customer Reviews

Running on Empty Dreams

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

A film about a woman who leaves her traditional, heterosexual marriage to find love and happiness in the arms of another woman is not new. Lianna (1983) dealt with this topic as did Desert Hearts (1985). Of these three films, "Running on Empty Dreams" is the least. That is not, however, to say that it is entirely without merit. But there are significant flaws.

"Running on Empty Dreams" begins when Sydney Harris (Kathleen Benner) is diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Her doctor informs her that her condition is treatable, but Sydney and her husband, Corey (Jose Rosete), lack the money to pay for treatment. As Corey works longer hours, Sydney strikes up a friendship with single mother Jane (Rachel Owens), and the two share intimate (in the sense of personal, not necessarily sexual) thoughts, naturally drawing closer.

There are multiple other elements to the film, including a lesbian-turned-evangelical-Christian who tries to prevent Sydney and Jane from forming a relationship, Sydney's efforts to sell a screenplay, Corey's rage, and, of course, the cancer itself. Too many elements pull the film in too many directions, and few of these elements receive satisfactorily in-depth treatment. Worse, they distract from the fundamental issue of Sydney's deteriorating relationship with her husband and son. Other flaws include the frequently too-loud background music, the at times over-the-top acting, and the script itself.

There are some good aspects to the film. Sydney's and Jane's relationship seems genuine, for instance, and the two leads are generally good. Also, this is an independent film (made in three weeks, according to the film's Web site), so some leeway, especially on technical matters, is in order. (And, of course, it's hardly as if big-budget films are without errors. Think of all the errors in Independence Day, for example, but that film seemed to do fairly well at the box office.) Still, though, I'd recommend "Desert Hearts" or "Lianna" for better treatment of similar themes. 2.5 stars.

Although the story this film (and i use the term film loosely) was based on is worthy to be told, the film itself is filled with sloppy story telling, ancient cliches, and generally bad acting. The film begins in the summer of 2000, this the first indicator of time in the film, also it's the last. The story all to frequently jumps periods of time and story lines, making it hard to decipher any clear message. The film is plagued with amateur indie film errors such as: horrible transitions, overly loud soundtrack, too few script revisions, and no sign of any editing what so ever. That's not even mentioning the simple continuity, factual, and grammatical errors. For example, a deceased character displayed in the casket wearing the clothing in which they died instead of proper burial attire, and the ending text which states "It's estimated that 18% to 35% of lesbians in the United States were EVER married, based on several research studies". I really don't understand how this film could have managed to be released in the state it is in. A few rewrites and a new cast, excluding Rachel Owens as Jane Smith, and this film could be very good, but as is it doesn't even live up to its title.

I didn't expect much from this movie after I read all the bad reviews, but I have to say I really liked this movie. Certainly it is not a typical Hollywood Blockbuster - but to me it seemed quite authentical. The actresses are gorgeous and the performance is ok for an indie movie. 4 stars because I think the subplot is a bit ham and sometimes too long without any particular meaning.

This is literally the worse film, and I use the term loosely that I have ever seen. When I finished watching (and only out of curiosity) the DVD went straight to the garbage.
The two lead actresses have potential. There are a couple of scenes when there relationship seems genuine, but the script is badly written, with much to-do-about-nothing dialogue and unclear "conclusions". The husband seems more like a porn actor than an ex-marine and the evangelical christian seems like a character out of a looney toons episode.
There is no evolution of the feelings. Scenes come and go and there is never a sense of what is actually going thru the characters minds except when they say it. For example, when Sidney says " I wanted to kiss you since the first time I saw you". Really???? You could have fooled me with your non-chalant attitude. That's what acting is for... to reflect feelings not croak bad dialogue.
The evangelical christian is an eye sore and the story so awfully told that at some point we were wondering if this was actually a born again christian film disguissed as lesbian themed.
I am a supporter of the arts, but there is a line that should not be crossed. This project should not have ever made it to film and I should never have spend $15 on it.
I set complete responsability of this disaster on the writer/director. Hope she has more sense (a lot of it) next time.

i have seen a lot of bad movies, but this one takes the cake. please, please don't waste your money on this thing. it left a bad taste in my mouth that i just can't get rid of.

warning, for those determined to watch... spoilers below....

let's start with...

the script. first, the script is very - very x 1,000 - poorly written. the plot is all over the place, stereotypical characters, and an overall bad message to viewers. to me it seemed homophobic. it's the 'evil/dead lesbian cliche' to the max. [i am SSOOOOOOOO tired of lesbian movies with unhappy/horrible endings.]

that leads me to the actors. first, the actors have no chemistry. second, the acting is heavy handed, clumsy, and unappealing.

last, the soundtrack and directing. first, the soundtrack just does not fit! who did the music for this thing? do they not know how to set a mood? and second, the directing.... all i can say is the director should have avoided this whole thing and run for the hills!

if i were you, i wouldn't waste my money on this so called movie. i didn't even bother to return it. i trashed it. that's how bad it is.

watch something uplifting! try 'imagine me and you.' which is possibly the best lesbian themed movie ever made.

I saw this film for free, fortunately, which may have influenced my decision to give it two stars. If I had paid good money for it I wouldn't have felt so generous. I wanted to like it, but the crazy quilt storyline made it impossible. You know you have a problem when you stop the movie and back it up to see where you missed any foreshadowing whatsoever for certain dialog (I did this twice). Like another reviewer here, I was surprised when the main character (Sydney) first reveals how she feels toward her neighbor (Jane). I said (out loud, actually), "Wait a minute. Where did that come from?" I don't know if it was bad writing or bad editing or both, but after backing the movie up and looking for some inkling, I can safely say it came completely out of left field. This was not the lone example of dialog or plot that made no sense in the context of the film. There was far too much of it, so much I couldn't take the relationship seriously, which detracted quite a bit from the intended emotional effect of the ending (which also made no sense).

The actors seemed to try their best, but all of them overacted, with the exception of Rachel Owens (Jane). She played free spirit, bohemian Jane without all the angst and bizarre emotional outbursts that characterized the rest of the characters. The children were there as props more than anything else. They didn't really react much to what was being said and done, and certainly not as real children would have reacted under the circumstances. I have to chalk up the over the top style of acting to bad direction, since they all seemed to do it.

I found myself feeling bad for poor Corey, Sydney's husband. He suffers from a distinct lack of a sense of humor, but otherwise he seems like a man trying to provide for his family, while his wife nags him constantly about not spending enough time with her. And what was up with that? She wants him to spend more time with her, but when he's with her, she doesn't want him to touch her, and seems bored to tears with him. If I was Kathleen Benner (Rachel) I would get the impression my character was bipolar, not stricken with cancer.

Speaking of the diagnosis, the doctor was almost comically cold and insensitive in revealing the details of her condition to Sydney, as soon as he found out she didn't have any insurance. When she told him, I'm literally going, "Wait a minute. Isn't Corey a retired Marine? I mean, they made a point of showing us his bumper sticker. (I pay attention to those kind of details, but the writer, director, and producer apparently did not. Hint to them: do a search for military health benefits next time.) Why not take Sydney to a VA hospital? They have one conveniently located in Prescott, AZ. You'd think the doctor would know that, and would also question why Corey has no health benefits, like I did. I stopped taking the script very seriously at that point.

Toss in your stereotypical token butch (the writer attempts to make her less stereotypical by making her a stereotypical born again right-wing Christian), a stereotypical evangelical preacher, and several odd plot points that made no sense (like the scene where a "good samaritan" stops and saves Sydney's life with mouth to mouth resuscitation in the pouring rain, and then conveniently and inexplicably disappears, only to reappear later to confuse the viewer).

There was a decent movie hidden in this mess, and some actors who I think could have pulled it off. The problem is, it was too well hidden behind mediocre to bad dialog, bad direction, sloppy editing, and extraneous characters and plot twists. Not worth the two hours.

I bought this thinking it had promise and I hadn't heard of it - well I wish it had stayed that way. I'll do my best not to have any spoilers for the film, but I honestly say skip it anyway. I bought it on DVD and the love scenes were nice and the actresses were pretty but the whole involvement with the husband - the back and forth drama, it just wasn't convincing. They did try hard on this film though, but honestly why won't anyone get that a "lesbian" movie needs to have a plot besides the fact that their will be two women making out in it; cause that won't hold the film.

I agree with all the negative statements made by other reviewers about the bad acting, the bad script, the bad music, etc; this is the most preposterous movie I've seen in a long time. There's no way it's worth even one star. But the worst part to me is the message that being a lesbian is bad, but if you are a lesbian, Jesus can help you. That stood out to me like a sore thumb because there simply was no other reason for the Christian lesbian to be in the movie. It wasn't a blatant message, but it certainly wasn't subtle either. And it was like the final nail in the movie's coffin.
(I don't know anything about the writer; if she's a lesbian, she DEFINITELY needs to find another line of work!)

Has all the laughs in you favorite comedy, with no jokes, only bad every thing. I would gladly pay double the rental to get that time back.

I am so shocked by how completely horrible this film is. I really wish that the creators had at least spoke to someone whom knew something about the topic before slapping around random lines to form a script. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.