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Simply Perfect

Fresh and Exciting

Excellent but underrated film

As Good As It Gets

If you are not a fan of Woody Allen's, this film is for you! Cassandra's Dream, written and directed by Woody Allen in 2007 does not, even once, look, sound, or give the vibe of a Woody Allen film. I'm not saying anything that is supposed to resemble "You're not a "true" Woody Allen fan if you like Cassandra's Dream. Of course, there are Woody Allen fans that enjoyed it; I'm simply suggesting that there's something here even for those that don't appreciate Woody's work. I am not a fan of this point in Woody's career where he seemed to be preoccupied with murder and getting away with it. Cassandra's Dream found a pair of brothers who were always experiencing financial woes decide to turn to crime to gain fortune. The problem is, the crime life resulted in them turning against each other.There's a lot I like about Woody Allen films, but my favorite part is consistently the script. I don't know what happened with Cassandra's Dream, but that Woody-like perfect script was absent. The film was oddly cast and absent a score that Woody typically so carefully constructs. Usually, I can find something redeeming in a Woody Allen film, something that I can lean on as positive even in one of his films I didn't care for--I struggle with Cassandra's Dream, however; it was one of the films I blind bought to meet this month's film project so I have plenty of time to change my mind on it.

If you've never seen any of Woody Allen's movies, make sure you don't choose this turkey as your introduction to his otherwise wonderful oeuvre. The plot is a cliché taken straight out of a daytime soapie and despite a seemingly excellent leading cast, the acting is beyond wooden. Colin Farrell is reported as saying this movie took him more takes than Miami Vice. Pity they didn't take a lot more or better still, take none at all and start over. Abysmal.

I had recently talked to a friend about how much we both enjoyed "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", and she labeled that film as "an explosion of feelings". I instantly agreed with that, and while I was watching "Cassandra's Dream", that's all that came in my mind: an explosion of feelings. McGregor and Farrell professionally portray two brothers that commit a murder in order to help their uncle, and as tough as it can be, one of them starts having mental problems because of it. The relationship between the brothers is extremely convincing, mainly due to the great directing that Woody Allen provides, again. It feels hard not to put ourselves in the positions of Ian and Terry; it was undoubtedly a quite hard situation to deal with. The first hour of the movie is full of conversations, and it tired me a bit, but once the brothers get in the victim's house, I felt like SCREAMING for such an intense first climax-- in my opinion, there are two of them. The only thing I really disliked about this film was the rushed ending, and I'm sure many people really hated it, but that's an eccentric way to end the story. We don't always need to see all that happens next; sometimes it's good to leave up to the spectator what is the next step. All in all, "Cassandra's Dream" is another GREAT work from Woody Allen, and you can realize that after the first hour of length.

This is the third time Allen has made a drama dealing with the moral insanity surrounding the possibility of murder. The first - "Crimes and Misdemeanors" - is one of his very greatest films. "Match Point" made only two years before "Cassandra's Dream" was strong, if not as complex and gut-punching as "Crimes…". While critics liked this film by far the least of the three, I feel this can certainly stand at least on equal footing with "Match Point". I will concede that the conclusion is slightly underwhelming and feels rushed. But the strong performances by Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell (who arguably does his best work ever here) as brothers in various financial need -- whose rich uncle will bail out if they kill someone -- make the film upsetting (in the good way) and tense. Indeed there are some terrific Hitchcockian moments in the film. Allen breaks with his normal style in interesting ways. Instead of only using source music, Philip Glass contributes a powerful and effective score. And the camera-work by Vilmos Zisgmond uses different kind of camera movement than I usually associate with Allen, including a sort of 'creeping camera' that helps to heighten the tension in a number of scenes. Make no mistake, this is more moral drama than thriller, and those expecting a thriller's pace will be frustrated. But whatever its flaws, it's an intelligent, well acted attempt to come to grips with moral responsibility in a world where money rules all.