In Dreams (1999)

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Really weird and not good horror movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Annette Benning, both of whom turn in pretty spectacularly strange performances.

 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-dreams-1999

 

[SlidePocket 707]

This and "High Spirits" served as one of the worst Neil Jordan directed.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Is high spirits the same one with Peter o Toole? Because I unabashedly love that fucking movie.

 

It really is a bad movie, but i'd still rate it higher than In Dreams just because at least High Spirits has a little bit of fun with its premise. Peter O'Toole being seemingly drunk throughout filming and Liam Neeson's amazing performance make it an exceedingly fun watch.

 

In Dreams is just weird, bad, and thoroughly depressing.

[RyanSz 3140]

Just started watching this and am wondering if Benning was on Nic Cage level of cocaine for this role, Also her husband is just a gigantic asshole to her for what seems like no reason.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

She really does spend the majority of this movie behaving like a lunatic. 

The thing that absolutely annoys me to no end is the lack of any sort of connection between Benning and Downey Jr. As to explain their psychic link or whatever it was 

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

I have to partially defend Aidan Quinn's dickishness in his performance. Their daughter dies, and they're both clearly grieving. And then she starts acting like a straight up lunatic in his eyes. I think the amount of people who would take someone at their word that their daughter's still living serial killer is somehow haunting Annette Benning would be a fairly small percentage of people. 

 

[RyanSz 3140]

True and there were points where I would be screaming at her to shut up about apples or red hair or whatever else she ranted about, but he was a dick even before the kid got taken, like literally ready to throw down with her as soon as he came into the house the first time for seemingly no reason. Also I would love the show to take 30-45 minutes discussing the outdoor play that seemed to have no connection to a school or anything and those fucking pixie girls that were just screaming in Benning's face for zero reason. I also wonder if they were trying to go for a Silence of the Lambs feel by having the antagonist only on screen for as little as possible, as RDJ is only in the movie for the last 20 minutes even though he's the impetus for everything Benning does, hell the actor who played the younger version of his character was on screen more than him.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

I havent seen this in so long, I realized I couldnt remember if she was always clairvoyant. Or if she just randomly gained it after the death of her daughter? I'd also completely forgotten about the husbands affair, so maybe his prickish demeanor could be attributed to guilt on his part. 

I think this movie was filmed while Robert Downey Jr. was still getting into trouble with drugs, so his limited screen time might be because he just wasnt available or some of his filmed scenes were just seen as unusable. I mean if you look at the scenes he's in, his performance is completely fucking bizarre.