The new movie Dream Scenario has an interesting enough premise: an ordinary man, for no real reason, begins appearing in dreams for people around the world. But then there are the things added to the idea that makes it even more intriguing. Nicholas Cage is the lead actor, and his character is the most un-Cage like looking guy you can imagine. The studio behind it is A24, and whatever they put out is at the very least going to be different. Oh, and as the credits rolled, I spotted Hereditary writer/director Ari Aster listed as a producer.
I’m pretty sure I was sold on just the premise. Add the other stuff in, and I was going for sure opening weekend.
Paul Matthews (Cage) is the most unassuming man possible. Bald, bespectacled, and given to speaking in a hesitant manner 90% of the time, he’s a guy who isn’t known for his assertiveness, which makes sense since he works as a tenured university professor where he teaches evolutionary biology, and the first lecture the movie shows him giving is about blending in. Then, for no real reason, he starts appearing in other people’s dreams. A lot of people’s dreams. Even strangers. He’s not really doing anything in the dreams. He’s just there, passing through. At first, Paul is upset that he’s not really doing anything to help the people having these dreams, but when an ex-girlfriend asks his permission to write a paper on it since she had one too, he relents. If nothing else, maybe it will help him get his own long-planned book on ant hive mind evolution published one day.
As it is, Paul is also the least equipped person possible to deal with what comes next. Famous for, again, not really doing anything on his end, he and his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) initially take advantage of his newfound attention. But just as Paul had no control over when he started appearing in people’s dreams, he doesn’t really have control over their content either. That becomes a real problem when the dreams, and Paul’s role in them, changes rather suddenly. What was once a rather pleasant experience and even the chance, according to his new agent (Michael Cera) to maybe do something with Barack Obama soon becomes something that could very well ruin every aspect of Paul’s life.
Alright, bottom line: this was a lot of fun. It’s a comedy, and while I didn’t laugh much, I was amused throughout in this weird little movie. Let’s face it: if a random person did start appearing in people’s dreams, it probably would be Nicholas Cage. His Paul is about as far removed as most Cage roles as you can get too. He’s just such an awkward guy, somewhat thin-skinned, but even when he tries to take control of what’s happening to him, all he comes across is completely unequipped for what’s happening. No one really listens to him, and pretty much the opposite of what he’s trying to do keeps happening. First, he wants to be seen as helpful, but that’s about it. He never even started his book. And he never even did anything to get himself into people’s dreams despite the fact pretty much everyone who has these dreams (despite the way the movie was presented, plenty of people don’t dream about him) seems to want to give him credit or blame, all while learning in one or two cases that the real guy is pretty unimpressive. And when was the last time Nicholas Cage played a character that was, for lack of a better term, this big a loser?
The movie isn’t perfect. The last half hour or so seems a bit rushed, as if writer/director Kristoffer Borgli ran out of things to say. But the dreams are presented in an appropriately dreamlike quality, and Paul’s dealings with a young woman (Dylan Gelula) who wants to reenact her dream with him is pretty appropriately awkward and off-putting (to put it mildly). But overall, not a bad English language debut from Borgli.
Grade: B+
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