In Dreams (film)

Last updated
In Dreams
In dreams.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Neil Jordan
Screenplay by
Based onDoll's Eyes
by Bari Wood
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Darius Khondji
Edited byTony Lawson
Music by Elliot Goldenthal
Production
company
Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures
Release date
  • January 15, 1999 (1999-01-15)(United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million [2]
Box office$17 million [3]

In Dreams is a 1999 American psychological thriller film directed by Neil Jordan. It is an adaptation of the novel Doll's Eyes (1993) by Bari Wood. The film stars Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., Aidan Quinn, and Stephen Rea. Its screenplay was co-written by Jordan and screenwriter Bruce Robinson. Filming took place various at locations throughout New England as well as on the Baja California Peninsula.

Contents

In Dreams was released in the United States on January 15, 1999, by DreamWorks Pictures. The film grossed only $17 million at the box office, and received varied reviews from critics, with several praising its visuals and Bening's performance, while others criticizing its lack of narrative coherence.

Plot

Claire Cooper is a suburban housewife and mother, who in her free time, illustrates children's stories. Her husband, Paul, is an airline pilot, and is frequently away from home due to work (and possibly an affair with an Australian co-worker), leaving Claire to care for their eight-year-old daughter, Rebecca. Claire begins experiencing bizarre, vague dreams involving an underwater city and the murder of a young girl. Shortly after, Rebecca goes missing during an outdoor school play, and is later found dead at the bottom of a reservoir.

Believing these dreams she has had since girlhood may be premonitory, Claire attempts to involve herself in the police investigation, but is met with increasing resistance. Her dreams and visions intensify, and she believes she is witnessing the movements of her daughter's murderer, a serial killer named Vivian Thompson. She uncovers that the underwater city she has experienced in her dreams is a former town, Northfield, that was flooded when the reservoir was formed.

The visions drive Claire to the brink of insanity, and she seeks help from a psychologist, Dr. Silverman, who diagnoses her as psychotic. She is subsequently committed to a psychiatric institution after slitting her wrists, but remains plagued by visions, including one of Vivian murdering Paul. When she experiences another vision of Vivian kidnapping another girl, Claire manages to escape from the institution, hoping to stop him from claiming another victim. She steals the vehicle of a security guard, and tracks Vivian to an abandoned fruit factory situated along the lake.

Upon arriving at the factory, she is met by Vivian and the young girl, Ruby. The childlike Vivian, who was severely abused as a boy by his mother, kidnaps little girls to be his "playmates"; when they resist, he becomes enraged and kills them. He is holding Claire hostage at the factory, and wants her and Ruby to stay with him as his "new family". Police manage to track Claire to the factory, where they have a face-off with Vivian, holding a gun to Claire's head. While a SWAT team attempts to snipe Vivian from a helicopter, he chases Claire along a bridge crossing a tributary waterfall, knocking both her and himself over the guardrail. Claire and Vivian plunge below the falls. In the water, Claire has a vision of being reunited with her daughter before drowning.

Later, Vivian, who survived the fall, is committed to the same psychiatric institute where Claire had been incarcerated. While lying in his bed, he has horrific visions of Claire's spirit haunting him and the phrase "Sweet dreams, Vivian" being scrawled in blood on the ceiling. The phrase emerges across the walls of his cell, and he screams in horror.

Cast

(In order of appearance)

Production

Screenplay

The film is ostensibly based on the 1993 novel Doll's Eyes, by Bari Wood, [4] even though the finished film and screenplay bear practically no resemblance at all to the book, with the exception of the protagonist being a well-to-do woman who abhors her psychic abilities, which put her in contact with a serial killer to whom she becomes mentally linked. The project originated as a script titled Blue Vision, written by Bruce Robinson. Neil Jordan came aboard to direct the film as one of the first projects at DreamWorks, having worked with David Geffen on his previous three films. Jordan rewrote the script and re-titled it In Dreams. [5] Commenting on what the film's overarching theme was, Jordan stated: "I don't think the world behaves in a rational manner, but we all write about it and talk about it as if it does. I think that's what a lot of stories I've told have been about. How people try and make sense of their own lives with the tools available like logic and a sense of consequence, and these forces erupt into lives that make no sense." [6]

Filming

Filming took place in multiple locations in New England, including several Massachusetts cities: Northampton (at the Northampton State Hospital and Smith College), Southampton, Northfield, and Florence. [7] Additional photography took place at the Wentworth by the Sea in New Castle, New Hampshire. [8] The underwater sets were created and filmed at 20th Century Fox studios on the Baja California Peninsula, in the same water tank used for the underwater portions of James Cameron's Titanic (1997). [9] The film's production budget was approximately $30 million. [10]

Cinematographer Darius Khondji applied filters on the camera lenses to achieve lush accents on the film's autumnal imagery, noted by critic Nick Pinkerton as "hysterical and hyper-real." [11]

Release

Box office

In Dreams was released in the United States on January 15, 1999, [12] across 1,670 theaters. [10] During its opening weekend, it grossed $3,992,449, ranking at number 11 at the U.S. box office. [10] It had a final gross of $11,927,682 in the United States and Canada and a worldwide gross of $17 million. [10] [3]

Critical reception

The film holds a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus states: "Some interesting visuals, but the movie is as confusing as a dream." [13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. [14]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised the film's cinematography and Bening's performance, summarizing: "At heart In Dreams is just a campfire story, and a pretty loony one at that. But Neil Jordan has directed it furiously, with a lush, insinuating visual style that gets right under the skin." [9] Some critics, such as Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times , commented on the film's dubious plot, deeming it "the silliest thriller in many a moon, and the only one in which the heroine is endangered by apples. She also survives three falls from very high places (two into a lake, one onto apples), escapes from a hospital and a madhouse, has the most clever dog since Lassie and causes a traffic pileup involving a truck and a dozen cars." [15]

Jack Mathews of the Los Angeles Times likened the film to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), but criticized it for its lack of realism. [4] However, Mathews praised the film's underwater visual sequences, noting that they "have the haunting atmosphere typical of Jordan's past horror films," and wrote that "Bening works this role like a sore muscle, or a tooth that needs pulling. It's a courageous, anti-glamour effort, one of those sweat-and-drool "Snake Pit" performances that drives hair and makeup crazy, not to mention mental-health-care providers." [4] The Washington Post 's Desson Howe similarly praised Bening for "an exhausting, breakout performance," as well as the film's "surrealistic" visuals. [16] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly awarded the film a C-minus rating, deeming it a "dismayingly schlocky and literal-minded thriller." [17] Emanuel Levy of Variety characterized the film as "dark, scary and uncompromising," and surmised that criticisms would result from the film's "convoluted narrative with a downbeat tone and shockingly unconventional ending, which doesn’t provide the genre’s customary pay-off." [18]

Co-writer Robinson criticized the film the year after its release, stating: "It was a complete and utter mess from top to bottom. I thought Jennifer Eight was a low point, but Christ almighty, this hit the floor and dug." [19] In a retrospective review, critic Nick Pinkerton referred to the film as "a fundamentally miscalibrated movie of rather piquant badness, the work of a preternaturally talented hack, if such a thing can exist." [11]

Film scholar Maria Pramaggiore notes In Dreams as one example in Jordan's filmography in which popular songs are employed to "disestablish time and place to convey the notion of time as a cyclical process." [20] Pramaggiore also stresses the importance of the uncanny in the film, citing it as one of several in Jordan's filmography—along with The Miracle (1991) and The Butcher Boy (1997)—in which "dreams assume the status of reality." [21]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to In Dreams was released on January 12, 1999. [22] Songs are by Elliot Goldenthal featuring London Metropolitan Orchestra, except where noted.

No.TitleArtistLength
1."Agitato Dolorosa" 4:59
2."Claire's Nocturne" 2:38
3."Pull of Red" 2:07
4."Appellatron" 3:33
5."Wraith Loops" 3:27
6."Rubber Room Stomp" 2:00
7."Pulled by Red" 1:11
8."Scytheoplicity" 2:26
9."In Dreams" Roy Orbison 2:50
10."Rebecca's Abduction" 4:32
11."Premonition Lento" 1:42
12."While We Sleep" 2:36
13."Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)" The Andrews Sisters 2:17
14."Andante" 3:38
15."Elegy Ostinato" 4:11
16."Dream Baby" Elizabeth Fraser 4:30
Total length:49:27 [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Roberts</span> American actress (born 1967)

Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. The films in which she has starred have collectively grossed over $3.9 billion globally, making her one of Hollywood's most bankable stars. After an early breakthrough with appearances in Mystic Pizza (1988) and Steel Magnolias (1989), Roberts established herself as a leading actress when she headlined the top-grossing romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990).

<i>Pretty Woman</i> 1990 film by Garry Marshall

Pretty Woman is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, Laura San Giacomo, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. The film's story centers on Hollywood escort Vivian Ward and wealthy businessman Edward Lewis. Vivian is hired to be Edward's escort for several business and social functions, and their relationship develops during her week-long stay with him. The film's title Pretty Woman is based on the 1964 song "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison. The original screenplay was titled “3,000,” and was written by then-struggling screenwriter J. F. Lawton.

The year 1999 in film included Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, the science-fiction film The Matrix, the animated works The Iron Giant, Toy Story 2, Tarzan, and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, the Best Picture-winner American Beauty, and the well-received The Green Mile. Other noteworthy releases include M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, David Fincher's Fight Club, Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. The year also featured George Lucas' top-grossing Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer celebrated their 75th anniversaries in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie-Anne Moss</span> Canadian actress (born 1967)

Carrie-Anne Moss is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in The Matrix series (1999–present). She has starred in Memento (2000), for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, Red Planet (2000), Chocolat (2000), Fido (2006), Snow Cake (2006), for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Disturbia (2007), Unthinkable (2010), Silent Hill: Revelation (2012), and Pompeii (2014). She also portrayed Jeri Hogarth in several television series produced by Marvel Television for Netflix, most notably Jessica Jones (2015–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Jordan</span> Irish filmmaker and fiction writer

Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. He won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Lion and a Silver Bear. He was honoured with receiving the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1996. He is known for writing and directing acclaimed dramas such as Mona Lisa (1986), The Crying Game (1992), Michael Collins (1996), The Butcher Boy (1997) and The End of the Affair (1999). Jordan also created the Showtime series The Borgias (2011) and Sky Atlantic's Riviera (2017). Jordan is also known as an author. He wrote Night in Tunisia (1976) which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradley Cooper</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1975)

Bradley Charles Cooper is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Academy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award. Cooper appeared on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list three times and on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. His films have grossed $13 billion worldwide, and he has been placed in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actors four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Larter</span> American actress (born 1976)

Alison Elizabeth Larter is an American actress. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 Esquire magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made her film debut in Varsity Blues (1999), which was followed by the horror film House on Haunted Hill (1999). Her role as Clear Rivers in the first two films of the Final Destination horror franchise earned her a reputation as a scream queen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Peet</span> American actress (born 1972)

Amanda Peet is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television before making her feature film debut in Animal Room (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in The Whole Nine Yards (2000) brought her wider recognition, and she has since appeared in a variety of films, such as Saving Silverman (2001), High Crimes, Changing Lanes, Igby Goes Down, Something's Gotta Give, Identity, Melinda and Melinda (2004), A Lot like Love, Syriana, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), 2012 (2009), Gulliver's Travels (2010), Identity Thief, and The Way, Way Back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa McCarthy</span> American actress (born 1970)

Melissa Ann McCarthy is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and she has been featured multiple times in annual rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #22 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

<i>Stir of Echoes</i> 1999 film by David Koepp

Stir of Echoes is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written and directed by David Koepp and based on the 1958 novel of the same title by Richard Matheson. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Illeana Douglas and Kevin Dunn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Thomas</span> British film producer (born 1971)

Dame Emma Thomas, Lady Nolan, is a British film producer. She has produced all of the feature films directed by her husband Sir Christopher Nolan, which have grossed more than $6 billion worldwide and are regarded as some of the greatest films of their respective decades.

<i>Someone to Watch Over Me</i> (film) 1987 American film

Someone to Watch Over Me is a 1987 American neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Howard Franklin. It stars Tom Berenger as a police detective who has to protect a wealthy woman, who is a key witness in a murder trial. The film's soundtrack includes the George and Ira Gershwin song from which the film takes its title, recorded by Sting, and Vangelis' "Memories of Green", originally from Scott's Blade Runner (1982).

<i>Mamma Mia!</i> (film) 2008 film by Phyllida Lloyd

Mamma Mia! is a 2008 jukebox musical romantic comedy film directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Catherine Johnson, based on her book from the 1999 musical of the same name. The film is based on the songs of pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson. The film features an ensemble cast, including Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Meryl Streep, and Julie Walters. The plot follows a young bride-to-be who invites three men to her upcoming wedding, with the possibility that any of them could be her father. The film was an international co-production between Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and was co-produced by Playtone and Littlestar Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Feig</span> American filmmaker

Paul Feig is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing films such as Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), Spy (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), and Last Christmas (2019). He often collaborates with actress Melissa McCarthy.

<i>The Town</i> (2010 film) 2010 American crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck

The Town is a 2010 American crime thriller film co-written and directed by Ben Affleck, adapted from Chuck Hogan's 2004 novel Prince of Thieves. The film stars Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Titus Welliver, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper and Slaine. Its plot follows a Boston bank robber who begins to develop romantic feelings for a victim of one of his previous robberies, while he and his crew set out to get one final score by robbing Fenway Park.

<i>Avatar: The Way of Water</i> 2022 American film by James Cameron

Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver from a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment in the Avatar film series. It features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovani Ribisi, Dileep Rao and Matt Gerald reprising their roles from the first film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in an additional role and Kate Winslet joining the cast. It follows a blue-skinned humanoid Na'vi named Jake Sully (Worthington) as he and his family, under renewed human threat, seek refuge with the aquatic Metkayina clan of Pandora, a habitable exomoon on which they live.

<i>Sanctum</i> (film) 2011 action thriller film by Alister Grierson

Sanctum is a 2011 3D action-thriller film directed by Alister Grierson and written by John Garvin and Andrew Wight. It stars Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wyllie, and Ioan Gruffudd. Wight also produced the film, with James Cameron as executive producer.

<i>Before I Go to Sleep</i> (film) 2014 British film

Before I Go to Sleep is a 2014 mystery psychological thriller film written and directed by Rowan Joffé and based on the 2011 novel of the same name by S. J. Watson. An international co-production between the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Sweden, the film stars Nicole Kidman, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, and Anne-Marie Duff.

<i>The Boy Next Door</i> (film) 2015 film by Rob Cohen

The Boy Next Door is a 2015 American erotic thriller film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Barbara Curry. The film stars Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, and Ian Nelson, with John Corbett and Kristin Chenoweth playing supporting roles. The film follows a 19 year old boy who, after having a one-night stand with his high school teacher, develops a dangerous and deranged obsession with her.

<i>Greta</i> (2018 film) 2018 film directed by Neil Jordan

Greta is a 2018 psychological thriller film directed by Neil Jordan and written by Ray Wright and Jordan. The film stars Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Colm Feore and Stephen Rea, and follows a young woman as she befriends a lonely widow who becomes disturbingly obsessed with her.

References

  1. ↑ Copyright Application for In Dreams (January 27, 1999). United States Copyright Office. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ "In Dreams - Budget". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Hayes, Dade (March 20, 2000). "Bombs away: Biz disavows duds". Variety . p. 7.
  4. 1 2 3 Mathews, Jack (January 15, 1999). "Silly Psycho-Thriller 'In Dreams' Offers More Laughs Than Gasps". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 30, 2018. Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  5. ↑ Carole Zucker (16 February 2022). Neil Jordan: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. p. 134. ISBN   978-1617037450.
  6. ↑ Pramaggiore 2008, p. 71.
  7. ↑ "Made in Massachusetts". Massachusetts Film Office. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ Ocker 2010, p. 300.
  9. 1 2 Maslin, Janet (January 15, 1999). "FILM REVIEW; Want to Share Dreams? Be Careful; It's Murder". The New York Times . Retrieved August 28, 2018. Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  10. 1 2 3 4 "In Dreams - Total Gross". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "In Dreams". Museum of the Moving Image . Symposiums. November 7, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  12. ↑ "In Dreams". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  13. ↑ "In Dreams (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  15. ↑ Ebert (January 15, 1999). "In Dreams". Chicago Sun-Times . Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Group.
  16. ↑ Howe, Desson (January 15, 1999). "Nightmarishly Good 'Dreams'". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  17. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (January 22, 1999). "In Dreams". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  18. ↑ Levy, Emanuel (January 14, 1999). "In Dreams". Variety . Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  19. ↑ Lezard, Nicholas (November 25, 2000). "Studio knives and FBI plots". The Guardian . London. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  20. ↑ Pramaggiore 2008, p. 96.
  21. ↑ Pramaggiore 2008, p. 22.
  22. 1 2 "In Dreams Soundtrack". AllMusic . Retrieved August 30, 2018.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.