Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
London Murder Mystery, January 20, 2008
The critics seem to enjoy beating up Woody Allen. "Cassandra's Dream" follows in the trend of the last 15 or so years of the public and critics turning their back on Allen and his films. I've found that they sometimes take cheap shots. It's one thing not to like an Allen film, but often I read personal attacks against Allen the man. Remarks are made concerning his age, personal life and his relationship with Soon-Yi. Rarely do critics stick to comments concerning editing, cinematography or acting without inserting a jab at Allen.
Every review I've come across for this film has been negative. "Variety" did not like it, spending a majority of the review complaining about the characters accents and the language used in the film, citing it is not authentic if you are British. Roger Ebert did not like it nor did the Chicago Tribune while the New York Times seemed luke-warm to it.
Once again however I find myself on the outside of public opinion. "Cassandra's Dream" is one of 2007's best films. Many may want to compare it to Allen's "Match Point", Allen's other film set in London revolving around murder and social class. Don't! The films are very different. "Match Point" I felt used metaphor in a more superior way. I thought Allen did a better job expressing his views on society in that film, but, "Cassandra's Dream" should not go without its due praise.
The film follows two lower class brothers, Ian (Ewan McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) trying to get by and climb the social ladder to success. Terry has a bit of a drinking and gambling problem. For now the gambling is paying off. Winning small amounts at cards and betting on the dog track. Ian on the other hand works at the family restuarant but dreams of investing in hotels. In many ways he wants to be like his rich uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), who has travelled all over the world.
One day Terry's luck runs out, he losses big at a poker game and is 90 thousand pounds in debt. Where will he get the money? Ian has some money saved for his hotel investments but not 90 thousand pounds. Their only hope is their rich uncle.
Before their uncle will give them the money he has a favor to ask. There is a whistle-blower at Howard's company who is going to testify against him for some questionable business moves he made. Howard needs the man to be, shall we say, eliminated. And he can only turn to his family for such a request.
At the heart of Allen's film is what lies in men's souls. Are good people capable of bad things. The brothers may have their faults, but they are not criminals. The tagline line for the film is every dream has a price. It's key to the film. How far would you go to reach your dreams? How severely will we allow our moral judgement to punish us for "sinful" acts?
We saw this question present itself in Allen's "Match Point" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (which also had brothers planning a murder. In fact the original title for the film was "Brothers") .
McGregor is good in the film as his character I felt was better defined and goes through more of a transformation. Farrell is the weak link of the bunch. His character seems underdeveloped. In honesty both characters could have used more work but McGregor adds something to the character through his presence as an actor. He makes the part more interesting then it was written. Farrell keeps his performance at the page level. Meaning he doesn't flesh the character out to make it his own but instead simply sticks to the page.
The major acting find here is Hayley Atwell. She is a treasure playing Angela Stark, a love interest for Ian. She is an unknown actress who has the potential to be a star. Unfortunately Allen and his legendary Hungarian cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, whose credits include "The Long Goodbye", "The Deer Hunter", "Blow Out" and Allen's "Melinda and Melinda" don't linger on Atwell. Allen should have had the camera follow her more aggressively, making the camera and the viewer fall in love with her. But that may have changed the tone of the film.
Zsigmond though for his part does get some beautiful country side shots as Allen shows as a different side of London than what we saw in "Scoop" and "Match Point". We see a more gritty side of London.
The editing of the film I also found effective. It slowly builds tension. As I first began watching the film I thought to myself this is a "good" Allen film. Then I slowly became more and mroe involved. How would the murder happen? Would they do it? Will they get away with it? How will such a film end? The film really grabbed my attention. My eyes became glued to the screen.
Sure there are downsides to the film, some of the performances, I thought more could have been done with Atwell and I found the original score by Philip Glass, at times unsuccessful in creating the proper mood. I didn't think it added much to the film. I thought the best scenes were the ones without any music. But "Cassandra's Dream" is worth seeing. Yes the negative remarks will continue, but for me at least, I'm glad I saw this film.
Bottom-line: One of 2007's best films. Despite some flaws Allen manages to keep his audience engaged. The film slowly creeps up on you.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The love and game: the strings of life! , May 24, 2008
Since the times of "Mighty Aphrodite" the genial Woody Allen seems to have found a never ending vein of possibilities, blending the essential roots of the Greek tragedy with the classic patterns of the Noir Film.
As a matter of fact, if "Match Point" was one of his most supreme achievements until this date, "Cassandra ` s dream" is the perfect vehicle to carve in relief the existential anguish and the primary scream for two working class brothers who aspire to escape from his quotidian environment.
Every one of them wants to be recognized and admired, playing the game of a wealthy uncle, who is for their mother, the symbol of success, and the real support along his years of childhood and youth.
So, we have the greedy mother, the ruthless uncle who is a real wolf of the finances and regards the existence like a poker game. "Family is family and blood and blood" is his honour` s code, the fatal statement which will open the Pandora's box , leading the viewer to be witness of what the unsatisfying thirst of ambition and greed .
Once more, we are in front of one the most intelligently written and better conceived scripts of this tireless filmmaker, where the brain sees to impose itself into a world eminently emotional where nobody is totally innocent.
Both brothers appear like the sides of a coin, one represents the wounded conscious, while the other is the symbol of the pragmatism. A similar dramatic device who reminded me to Sean Penn `s "Indian runner".
Watch it, because it's absolutely gratifying from start to finish.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dream that turned into a Nightmare, January 12, 2009
Woody Allen returns to familiar territory in Cassandra's Dream. The whole murder and mystery thing in London that has been his main theme since Match Point and Scoop is getting a bit boring. Match Point was good and got him his best reviews in twenty years. However it was too similar to a section of Crimes and Misdemeanors, the last film that got him those rave reviews, in which a man has an affair and then plots to kill his mistress. Cassandra's Dream is different as it tells the story of two brothers who find themselves desperate and in need of cash. The Blaine brothers are two working class lads who need a large amount of money and quick. Terry (Colin Farrell) is a mechanic with a gambling problem who has just lost big at the track and owes some dangerous people . Ian (Ewan McGregor) works at their dad's restaurant out of pity but dreams of finding the right girl and opening his own chain of hotels. One day while driving in the countryside he meets a pretty actress and begins to woo her. He can't afford to buy her affections however so he too needs money. The boy's Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) is rich and has always come through for the family before. When he arrives in town each brother presents their case to him and asks him for the money. Howard isn't prepared to just give it to them like he has done before. He wants a return on his investment. A former business partner is set to testify against him in an upcoming trial. The testimony could land him in jail for the rest of his life where he would not be able to access his money and be useless to the boys. He wants the man taken care of as he explains it. Terry is shocked to hear this and immediately refuses to participate in a murder. Ian on the other hand makes it his duty to convince his brother that this is their only way out of their current predicament. The rest of the film concerns the brothers plotting and going through with a murder and the consequences of their actions. What happens to Terry makes this film somewhat unique and is certainly unexpected. Farrell and McGregor are quite good and Tom Wilkinson is perfect as the rich uncle who is sympathetic one moment but menacing and dangerous the next. It has some good things going for it but ultimately it gets boring because it is repetitive. It isn't hard to see why this film never found a distributor at Cannes and instead went straight to DVD.
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