Dream Scenario

 

Dream Scenario
Starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows
Directed by Kristoffer Borgli

Dreams are a fascinating thing, because scientists don't fully understand why we dream in the first place. No one knows what purpose it serves or why we do it, but it's something that we do every night, even if we don't remember them in the morning. They say that you never dream about someone you haven't met before either, and even people you don't know in your dreams are someone you've seen in real life even in just a fleeting glance. Your mind imprints their image in your brain and unleashes it at night for some unknown reason. Back in 2008, Italian sociologist and marketer Andrea Natella started an Internet sensation known as "This Man," which was a composite sketch of an unknown person who many people claimed were in their dreams despite none of them knowing who he was. It was a mystery because countless people who never knew one another claimed they dreamed of the same man, and no one knew why or who he was. Then it was revealed that it was all a hoax created by Natella who wanted to test the concept of dream invasion and see how the Internet could create an urban legend of its own. Now it's getting the big screen treatment in "Dream Scenario," featuring Nicolas Cage in another fascinating, unique performance that's just added to his recent critical resurgence.

Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is a mild-mannered college professor who has absolutely no social skills, no sense of fashion, and who can't crack a joke to save his life. He's perfectly ordinary in every way, and it seems only his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) really appreciates him for who he is, while his teenage daughters think he's uncool and his students often ignore his lectures. All that changes when his family, his students, and random strangers start having dreams about him. Even in those dreams he's not doing anything but walking by, but this strange phenomena creates an Internet sensation out of Paul, propelling him to international superstardom basically against his will. Paul fully embraces this new lease on life and at first it seems everything is going well - he's well-liked, invited to parties, and his kids think he's cool. But all that changes when people start having dreams about Paul where he's doing horrible things to them, leading him to become a social pariah overnight. Paul can't handle the new disdain and isolation, leading him to create an apology video for something he technically never did, which doesn't go over well. Soon he finds himself in danger from people who want him gone for nothing more than hurting them in their dreams - something Paul had no control over.


The Good:
Nicolas Cage was an Internet meme all his own, appearing in numerous direct-to-streaming films that were absolutely horrible. This former Oscar-winner was resorted to memes where he gives is Cage-scary face that illicit laughs but tarnished his acting legacy. In recent years, however, he's found a way to rebound from that with critically acclaimed films like "Mandy," "Pig," "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" and now "Dream Scenario." He's known for playing offbeat characters, but here as Paul he's as mild-mannered as they come. He just walks around, talks in a plain flat tone, and is really just an unmemorable person. After the dreams start happening, however, he's thrown into a world he doesn't understand and gets weighed down by it. Cage obviously leaned on his own history in this role and you can tell the close association he has with it as he goes from nobody, to somebody, and back to nobody but a nobody that everybody knows and hates. He makes you feel for Paul and you feel bad for him in the end.

This concept was written and directed by Norwegian satirist Kristoffer Borgli who specializes in crude commercialism and surreal scenarios, all of which are in full effect in "Dream Scenario." He skewers the concept of Internet superstardom and how being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be, and surprisingly it's not just satirical but really plausible - which I guess is what makes it satirical in the first place. Throw a man who nobody cares about into the national stage where he's not prepared for the repercussions of, and then throw him to a pack of rabid dogs thirsty for his blood for something he had no control over. That's basically Internet fandom in a nutshell and Borgli wonderfully portrays it here.

The editing (also done by Borgli) wonderfully blends the realistic with the fantastic, as people share their dreams of Paul that range from the mundane (a woman sees him walking by as she dreams of a car wreck) to the insane (a girl in his class dreams of Paul walking by as the school is enduring an earthquake) in perfect synchronicity. There's obvious correlations between Paul and Freddy Krueger and they go full in on this concept, even having Paul don glove with razors for a photoshoot, which was a nice little homage to "A Nightmare on Elm Street."


The Bad:
There's a strong supporting cast including stars like Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera and Tim Meadows that go relatively unnoticed, who's roles could've been played by newbies because they aren't really given any depth - but ultimately this is Paul's world, and they all just exist in it.

The ending is a bit off-kilter that goes in a completely different direction, which is jarring at first but makes sense in the grand scheme of things.


The Summary:
Showcasing the pitfalls and profits of Internet superstardom, "Dream Scenario" takes a mysterious concept and makes it incredibly mundane thanks to another career-best performance by Nicolas Cage.


The Score: A+