6/10
Two Coreys and an overdone plot
15 January 2011
Dream a Little Dream's trailer is the most false advertised trailer I've ever seen. It states the film is about a teenager named Bobby who is a slacker in high school, and must win the girl of his dreams in three days. Okay, don't really understand it too much, but I'll let it fly. The back of the DVD doesn't do too much justice either. It has the character Dinger (Haim) state some things about Bobby and explain his personality in a bias way, and he says he will be "sticking around to see what happens". I will be too.

Unlike the advertising on the box and the trailer, DALD is about another "body and mind swap" type of films that Hollywood did away with in the eighties. Vice Versa and Like Father, Like Son would be dubbed as "cult classics" in the 2000 decade. The film probably scrapped trying to explain it in the title because they knew the consumers had enough with being alienated with these movies that were already confusing enough. Dream a Little Dream doesn't help in being a confusion lacking film.

The plot: Bobby is a teenager who's grades are awful, and his best friend Dinger tries to get Bobby on the right track but it doesn't seem to help much. Bobby, Dinger, and a group of friends always use a shortcut found in a Coleman (Robards), a grumpy old man's, well kept yard. Obviously, like any other grumpy old man, this one does not approve of the teen's careless disrespect for his property. One night, Bobby is racing through the yard of the old man to try and get home when he collides with Lanie (Salenger), his friend's girlfriend, in their yard while Coleman and his wife Gena are meditating.

In the blink of an eye Coleman is in Bobby's body, and Laurie is unknowingly Gena. What a paradox! The Laurie is Gena part is pretty much left for the audience to assume. The film doesn't even give you a hint. It's a disorganized mess that almost forgets to explain what's going on. The cast might know what's happening, but I, myself, as an audience member is expecting to have this somewhat explained to me.

The two things that rescue this movie before it hits the bottom of the barrel are; it's rocking soundtrack and the fact it's a buddy movie with Haim/Feldman. The movie blasts R.E.M. and the song Dream a Little Dream of Me at random, but satisfying times. Sometimes the music gets a little abrupt and annoying, but there's a volume meter that can be controlled. There are not a lot of good H/F movies out there. They did around seven, The Lost Boys is pretty good (not great), License to Drive is great, Busted sucked, Last Resort was forgettable and a little immature, Blown Away wasn't that great of a film, but it was entertaining as hell, and Dream a Little Dream goes down as a so-so, could've been better film like Last Resort. I have yet to watch the sequel to this film as well.

Dream a Little Dream is far from fantastic, but it's acceptable. It isn't as bad as some make it out to be. The first half hour I was completely lost. I thought this film would be absolutely horrible, but as the film went on I felt more connected to these characters and was rooting for Feldman by the end of the movie. It's not the worst H/F movie out there, but it doesn't compare to the classic that is License to Drive.

I've been searching high and low, trying to find a Comedy CH/CF film that compared in quality to License to Drive. I've dug through pretty much the whole pile and the only one that I haven't watch yet is the sequel to this. Could this be the one film that surpasses LtD in humor, quality, and amusement. Judging from the IMDb rating of 3.2, and the people I talk to telling me it's awful, I doubt it.

Starring: Jason Robards, Corey Feldman, Piper Laurie, Meredith Salenger, Harry Dean Stanton, and Corey Haim. Directed by: Marc Rocco.
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