It’s been a long time since a movie disappointed me as much as In Dreams. Maybe since Sphere, one of the worst big-budget films of 1998.
In Dreams looks great on paper: Expensive production values, fine cast (Annette Bening, Aidan Quinn, Robert Downey Jr.), accomplished director (Neil Jordan) and a script co-written by the author of The Killing Fields.
But, like last year’s underwater turkey, In Dreams proves that all the talent in the world cannot make up for a stinker of a story.
Based on a novel by Bari Wood, the movie follows the descent of Claire Cooper (Ms. Bening), a children’s-book illustrator who suffers from visionary dreams. Her insights, we learn, are both reliable (‘‘It’s not like that dream you had before Mom died, is it?’’), and delusionary (‘‘Am I crazy again?’’)
In the film, her bad dreams are implanted by a serial killer who goes after her daughter, her husband and her dog before he meets the woman who he imagines is his wife or his mother or both.
The basic premise actually holds some promise in the early going. Claire is intelligent but brittle; she doubts her own sanity as much as anyone else does. The appearance of a sympathetic psychiatrist (Stephen Rea) offers an opportunity for some meaty dialogue about madness, dreams and consciousness.
Alas, the shrink turns out to be a mere plot ploy. He is a sounding board for a ranting Claire, who finally finds proof that her visions are true. Of course, by that time, so much real evidence has been ignored or destroyed that the moment of discovery, when everyone should be whispering a collective ‘‘Aha!,’’ is an anti-climax.
After that, the plot careens hopelessly out of control, stumbling over bizarre flashbacks and inconsistent logic at every turn. For example: After a killer forces you to cuddle with him in bed then tries to chop off your head, would you try to save his life?
Director Jordan pours on special effects with a heavy hand, but they do not help make psychological or rhetorical sense of the film.
Among the movie’s unfortunate Spherical aspects is its inordinate number of underwater scenes. They’re supposed to be eerie and suspenseful, but you know what? They’re just soggy.
