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In Dreams
1999
This darkly imaginative film from director Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE) follows Claire, a psychic New England housewife (Annette Bening) who loses her grip on reality when her dreams connect with those of a psychotic child murderer (Robert Downey Jr.). Centered around a ghost town submerged in the .. Read more
| Starring | Annette Bening, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Robert Downey Jr |
|---|---|
| Director | Neil Jordan |
| Genres | Thriller |
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In Dreams
This darkly imaginative film from director Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE) follows Claire, a psychic New England housewife (Annette Bening) who loses her grip on reality when her dreams connect with those of a psychotic child murderer (Robert Downey Jr.). Centered around a ghost town submerged in the local reservoir and a creepy apple orchard, Claire's disturbing visions baffle the police and eventually lead to her confinement in an insane asylum. As the killer's fantasies continue to haunt her, Claire realizes she must succumb to her link with his twisted psyche if she is to escape from the hospital, track him down, and put an end to the madness.
Jordan's direction captures his heroine's horrific nightmares and the autumnal New England locales brilliantly, while Bening attacks her role with ferocious gusto. The film's uniquely rich, color-saturated look comes courtesy of cinematographer Darius Khondji. Jordan wrote the screenplay with Bruce Robinson (WITHNAIL & I), adapted from the novel DOLL'S EYES by Bari Wood, and longtime Jordan collaborator Stephen Rea costars as Claire's doubtful psychiatrist.
| Starring | Annette Bening, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Robert Downey Jr, Paul Guilfoyle |
|---|---|
| Director | Neil Jordan |
| Studio | Dreamworks Home Entertainment |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 35 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | German |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 02 Feb 2004 Production year: 1999 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) proves again what an inconsistent director he can be with this wildly contrived and hugely disappointing chiller. The visuals are impressively stylised, as Jordan summons up the nightmare world in which New England resident Annette Bening becomes trapped as she finds her mind invaded by the thoughts of a serial killer. Yet his handling of the various flashbacks and reveries is haphazard in the extreme, creating tension by sleight of hand (and an obsession with apples) rather than plot progression or sustained atmosphere. Buffeted about by the most implausible events, Bening captures something of a life gone haywire, but Robert Downey Jr is out of control as the maniac haunting her thoughts.
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"...[Bening] is terrific....There are also solid performances from THE CRYING GAME's Stephen Rea and Aidan Quinn....[Jordan] is a talented filmmaker, and his hauntingly eerie approach seems fresh..."
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Most helpful member's review
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23 out of 28 people found this review helpful
DON'T WATCH TRAILER BEFORE SEEING FILM
I WANTED TO SEE ANOTHER FILM WITH ANNETTE BENING & I'M GLAD I CHOSE THIS ONE. SHE WAS GREAT AS USUAL. A THRILLER IT WAS: WHO WAS KILLING THESE LITTLE GIRLS? WHAT DID HER DREAMS MEAN? I ENJOYED THIS FILM VERY MUCH, BUT MY EMOTIONS GOT THE BETTER OF ME WHEN SHE WAS IN THE WATER WITH HER DAUGHTER, I ADMIT IT, I CRIED. (If you are female you have to watch it for her 2 leading men: Aiden Quinn & Robert D.Jr.)
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Most recent members' review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Not quite a nightmare
Robert Downey was in this film and the more recent 'Gothika'. Both are ghostly stories concerned with madness, asylums, serial murder and the supernatural. The contrast between 'Gothika' and 'In Dreams' is interesting, because while neither is entirely satisfactory, both are worth watching, and both take radically different options. 'Gothika' is illogical blood-and-thunder, designed to create a series of efficient shock sequences. The plot makes no sense afterwards, but the ride is worth having. 'In Dreams' is quite the opposite.
The story adds up, the trajectory is quite convincing (to the extent that you know where the characters are going with an accuracy that matches the central character's ability to see into the future). It's well-acted, well-written and beautifully photographed. Annette Bening is particularly convincing as a woman who has lost everything including her mind to psycho-killer Downey, but her ability to predict the future doesn't help her to change it, which makes her predicament even more sad. The only problem is that it's a about as scary as filling in your tax return. I'd recommend this, but as a character study, not the horror film they'd like it to be. -
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In Dreams
This darkly imaginative film from director Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE) follows Claire, a psychic New England housewife (Annette Bening) who loses her grip on reality when her dreams connect with those of a psychotic child murderer (Robert Downey Jr.). Centered around a ...
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