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Movies / On DVD / Cassandra's Dream
Cassandra's Dream

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Cassandra's Dream (2008)

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Reviews Counted:113

Fresh:52

Rotten:61

Average Rating:5.7/10

Consensus: Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson act up a storm in Cassandra's Dream, but Woody Allen's heavy-handed symbolism and foreshadowing drains the plot of all tension.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for thematic elements, some sexual material and brief violence.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:23-05-2008

Synopsis: Woody Allen wrote and directed this London-set feature, a modern noir with black comic trimmings. Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor play working class brothers who dream of better things than their... Woody Allen wrote and directed this London-set feature, a modern noir with black comic trimmings. Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor play working class brothers who dream of better things than their respective mechanic and restaurant jobs. Hard-drinking Terry (Farrell) has a weakness for gambling, while brother Ian (McGregor) hankers for the finer things when he starts dating a very ambitious actress (Hayley Atwell). Fate deals a hand when their rich American uncle (Tom Wilkinson) slinks into London with a murderous proposition. Named for the boat the lads buy during a rare flush moment--a symbol of the morally compromising power of money and the inevitability, perhaps, of fate--CASSANDRA'S DREAM is another of Allen's loving looks at moneyed urbanites and their penchant for living out Greek tragedy, a la MATCH POINT and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. This time around, it's a bit darker, but with Farrell and McGregor in the leads, there's plenty of star power. The lads are clearly having a ball acting under Allen's direction, and they're allowed to develop a charming, rapid-fire fraternal rapport that carries the film--along with Wilkinson's old-school gravitas and Atwell's luminous charisma. Phillip Glass composed the score. [More]

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, Sally Hawkins

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, Sally Hawkins, Hayley Atwell

Director: Woody Allen

Director: Woody Allen
Screenwriter: Woody Allen
Producer: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Gareth Wiley
Composer: Philip Glass
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Reviews for Cassandra's Dream

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Woody Allen still insists on making movies at the rate of one a year, but he clearly needs to slow down. A lot.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/18/08
Steve Rose
Steve Rose
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Disappointing, badly overwritten drama from Woody Allen, rendered almost unwatchable by dreadful Cockney accents from McGregor and Farrell.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/18/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A clumsy, clichéd morality play that may actually represent the lowest point of Allen’s recently chequered career.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/18/08
Damon Wise
Damon Wise
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film stumbles in its convenient, obvious plot turns, even if much of this is meaningfully thought-provoking.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/22/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

If there is a black comedy hiding deep within the folds of this tragic tale, it is so subtly dissimulated that very few will ever manage to unveil it.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/15/07
Dan Fainaru
Dan Fainaru
Screen International

By no means is this lukewarm drama Woody Allen's worst work, but it's no dream, either.

Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | comment Comment
09/04/09
Mike Scott
Mike Scott
Times-Picayune

Everything is utterly disengaged

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/27/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Mark Bazer
Mark Bazer
Boston Phoenix

Farrell and McGregor bring much to their roles...to make Cassandra's Dream an effective and chilling ride.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
02/06/09
Linda Barnard
Linda Barnard
Toronto Star

Cassandra's Dream is, in fact, not the worst film in the Woodman's oeuvre. But it does tend to underline his weaknesses.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
02/06/09
Jim Slotek
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

It's enough to make you pine for the good old days -- back when life was only partly ironic and Woody was totally funny.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
02/06/09
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/18/08
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

These characters not only don't talk like working-class Londoners, they don't talk like anyone.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
10/18/08
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Slate

At this point, I guess we should just applaud Allen for his work ethic.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Josh Rosenblatt
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

By the time the blokes played by McGregor and Farrell get around to confronting their misdeeds, they're the only ones who care.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
10/18/08
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

The problem is, you don’t feel the human sweat and strain in Cassandra’s Dream, despite game work from Farrell and McGregor. There are plenty of ideas and themes and no people of distinctive interest to enliven them.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/18/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Allen is notorious for not giving his actors explicit instructions, and yet somehow this worked wonders for Farrell, who has never seemed so naked, so clear and so unencumbered as he does here.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

Although all the performances are remarkable, the actors can't break free from the too neat-and-tidy script.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
10/18/08
Susan Tavernetti
Susan Tavernetti
Palo Alto Weekly

Woody Allen’s neurotic-speak works wonders coming from a New Yorker, but coming from a Brit? Not so much.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/01/08
Kit Bowen
Kit Bowen
Hollywood.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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