By no means is this lukewarm drama Woody Allen's worst work, but it's no dream, either.
Cassandra's Dream (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:113
Fresh:52
Rotten:61
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson act up a storm in Cassandra's Dream, but Woody Allen's heavy-handed symbolism and foreshadowing drains the plot of all tension.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for thematic elements, some sexual material and brief violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jan 18, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $871,646
Synopsis: Woody Allen wrote and directed this London-set feature, a modern noir with black comic trimmings. Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor play working class brothers who dream of better things than their... Woody Allen wrote and directed this London-set feature, a modern noir with black comic trimmings. Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor play working class brothers who dream of better things than their respective mechanic and restaurant jobs. Hard-drinking Terry (Farrell) has a weakness for gambling, while brother Ian (McGregor) hankers for the finer things when he starts dating a very ambitious actress (Hayley Atwell). Fate deals a hand when their rich American uncle (Tom Wilkinson) slinks into London with a murderous proposition. Named for the boat the lads buy during a rare flush moment--a symbol of the morally compromising power of money and the inevitability, perhaps, of fate--CASSANDRA'S DREAM is another of Allen's loving looks at moneyed urbanites and their penchant for living out Greek tragedy, a la MATCH POINT and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. This time around, it's a bit darker, but with Farrell and McGregor in the leads, there's plenty of star power. The lads are clearly having a ball acting under Allen's direction, and they're allowed to develop a charming, rapid-fire fraternal rapport that carries the film--along with Wilkinson's old-school gravitas and Atwell's luminous charisma. Phillip Glass composed the score. [More]
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, Sally Hawkins
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, Sally Hawkins, Hayley Atwell
Director: Woody Allen
Director: Woody Allen
Screenwriter: Woody Allen
Producer: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Gareth Wiley
Composer: Philip Glass
Studio: Weinstein Company
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Reviews for Cassandra's Dream
Farrell and McGregor bring much to their roles...to make Cassandra's Dream an effective and chilling ride.
Cassandra's Dream is, in fact, not the worst film in the Woodman's oeuvre. But it does tend to underline his weaknesses.
It's enough to make you pine for the good old days -- back when life was only partly ironic and Woody was totally funny.
Woody Allen still insists on making movies at the rate of one a year, but he clearly needs to slow down. A lot.
These characters not only don't talk like working-class Londoners, they don't talk like anyone.
At this point, I guess we should just applaud Allen for his work ethic.
Disappointing, badly overwritten drama from Woody Allen, rendered almost unwatchable by dreadful Cockney accents from McGregor and Farrell.
By the time the blokes played by McGregor and Farrell get around to confronting their misdeeds, they're the only ones who care.
The problem is, you don’t feel the human sweat and strain in Cassandra’s Dream, despite game work from Farrell and McGregor. There are plenty of ideas and themes and no people of distinctive interest to enliven them.
Allen is notorious for not giving his actors explicit instructions, and yet somehow this worked wonders for Farrell, who has never seemed so naked, so clear and so unencumbered as he does here.
Although all the performances are remarkable, the actors can't break free from the too neat-and-tidy script.
A clumsy, clichéd morality play that may actually represent the lowest point of Allen’s recently chequered career.
Woody Allen’s neurotic-speak works wonders coming from a New Yorker, but coming from a Brit? Not so much.
The writing is terrific as are the performances by Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor who play brothers with dreams beyond their means.
This is Colin Farrell's best work in years and proof that Woody Allen is an old dog, and these are new tricks.
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