'Dream Scenario' needed to get wilder
A24
On some level, the involvement of Nicolas Cage already puts a movie at a degree of zany. Add the plotline of “Thousands around the world dream about random guy, random guy doesn’t know what to do with that,” plus the credibility of A24 getting behind it, and “Dream Scenario” would seem to have the potential for an epic mind-bender that can anchor both legit film debates as well as midnight movie clubs.
Unfortunately, this only sporadically funny social comedy is more like a dream that you only kinda enjoy, don’t really remember, and feel little need to share with someone else.
Cage stars as Paul Matthews, a tenured professor whose credentials earn little regard from students, former colleagues, or much of anyone. That’s until suddenly, for no reason at all, many people who know him and many more who don’t start dreaming about this rumpled sack of kind-hearted neediness, who at first just wanders around in their subconscious but then does things ranging from arousing to horrifying. For a while it seems this instant celebrity might have an in to at last publish the unwritten book he’s always wanted to release, or more broadly earn the acclaim and respect he desires but almost never receives. But the expression isn’t “15 years of fame.”
Seeming to channel Charlie Kaufman without the eye for plot or mind for meaning, writer-director Kristoffer Borgli takes an intriguing premise and tiptoes in a few directions without going hard into any. The movie considers the inanity of sudden fame and its frequently fleeting, potentially devastating evaporation, as well as the tempting danger of the world opening up to mostly reveal cracks instead of love. Cancel culture is mentioned but shouldn’t be; that issue applies to broad perceptions of accusations and actions, where Paul’s rise and fall is driven entirely by dreams based on nothing. Meanwhile, “Dream Scenario” plays its bizarre setup oddly safe, with escalating transgressions not adding up to a whole lot and the message landing far too close to “Don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” “Adaptation,” this is not.
Any opportunity for Cage to wrestle his mania into a worthwhile character in a decent movie counts for something, of course, and supporting roles for Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Dylan Gelula, and even Tim Meadows reward as well. But it seems self-explanatory that this narrative and its corresponding descent into puzzling existential instability provides opportunity to consider more than just “Dreams are weird, the public is fickle, and ambition often comes underscored with ego.” Considering how warped our dreams can be, “Dream Scenario” lands a long way from mind-blowing.
C
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