Dream Scenario

Screened on Blu-ray.

Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufmann are clear inspirations here with it's quirky ideas and plot, and it's what attracted me to this at first. More so, it was the promise of Cage's role and performance shown in the initial trailer that sparked my interest. As much respect as I have for Cage's career, I was aching for a more grounded, human role for him of late, compared to the over-the-top roles he's shown in recent films like Mandy and Color Out of Space. However I was starting to find it hard to follow through and actually see this because for whatever reason, I was getting the sense it was going to dive into hokey qualities and elements, with forced emotions rising to a level of cringe that require I be in a very particular mood to give a fair shot. That prediction was irrational though and I couldn't have been more wrong .... at least until the very end. So if you had any hesitation in that sense, that perhaps this would turn into a somewhat schmaltzy romance as Kaufmann's 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' became for example, well you're mostly safe here, save for the end.

Luckily, everything that occurs up until the end is a real joy to sit through. Cage's performance is, as expected, very good. He's funny, he's relatable, he's sympathetic - he embodies I think the original intention of the writer here, versus say an Adam Sandler who was originally targeted for the role. There's great comedy here, and a bit of that cheesy emotion I hoped we would avoid, while overall the genre-bending is strong and does it without being alienating to the audience. There's something here for everyone to enjoy and relate to, even while what's playing out on screen is rather unconventional at times, as one would expect from an A24 film.

'Dream Scenario' achieves what's been a good barometer for me in deciding whether a film is good or not, and it as simple as whether it's engaging throughout, from start to finish. This very much was, without being heavy-handed at any point. It was inviting, and a lot more appealing than I ever expected it to be. Is it ground-breaking like Jonze or Kaufmann in their heyday? Not really, but writer/director Borgli does a stellar job of carrying that touch of quirky,

almost twee type of cinema without being off-putting. Good recommendation.