Movie Review Dream Scenario

Dream Scenario (2023) 

Directed by Kristoffer Borgli 

Written by Kristoffer Borgli 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Dylan Baker, Tim Meadows 

Release Date December 1st

Published November 30th, 2023 

Dream Scenario stars Nicolas Cage as college professor, Paul Matthews, a bang average human being who randomly starts showing up in the dreams of strangers and acquaintances alike. Why? No one knows. It starts with Paul's youngest daughter, Sophie (Lily Bird), who suffers a nightmare in which things fall from the sky and her father is there and does not react. He continues just to watch as Sophie begins to float away, all the while calling for him as he stands and watches, doing nothing. As Sophie relates this dream the following morning, Paul can't help but seize on how he feels Sophie is portraying him as a bad father for letting her float away, something she was not doing. 

Paul seems to seek out things to take offense to, personal slights that he can seize on as if the world were always conspiring against him. One such offense occurs that same day as Paul attends a lunch with a former colleague. He's chosen to confront this colleague on the vague assumption that she's about to publish a paper that he believes was inspired by his work over a decade earlier. The deeply awkward and uncomfortable confrontation occurs at a restaurant at what this colleague believed would be a friendly bit of catching up. The friend hasn't even picked up her menu before Paul accuses her of not crediting him on her paper.

Never mind that in the more than a decade since they have spoken that Paul had not published on this topic, he's the one who has been slighted. The scene is edgy and anxiety inducing because we've only begun to know Paul and this is our first lengthy introduction to Paul and he's a sweaty, stammering, deeply awkward mess who doesn't realize what a mess he is. Paul is clearly in the wrong her and his gross entitlement and barely restrained anger charge the scene with a finger nails on a chalkboard like feeling of skin crawling physical cringe. 

This feeling will return throughout the entirety of Dream Scenario as Paul grows into a strange viral celebrity and, as happens with such odd fame, he quickly turns into a canceled villain. If you think Paul is hard to take as a smiling, entitled minor celebrity, just wait for the levels of angst inducing cringe behavior he will engage in as his celebrity curdles into infamy. Nicolas Cage's performance is twitch inducing. He makes you wish you could flee from him even as you can't tear yourself away from this fascinating story as it unfolds. The premise is such a grabber that the question of why this guy is appearing so many different stranger's dreams keeps you rooted to your seat. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review How to Deal

How to Deal (2003) 

Directed by Claire Kilner

Written by Neena Beber

Starring Mandy Moore, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Trent Ford, Dylan Baker 

Release Date July 18th, 2003 

Published July 18th, 2003 

Is it just my cynical nature or do you agree that the title How To Deal is a marketer's idea of how teenagers talk? Everything about How To Deal screams of a publicity department ranting and raving about test audiences and demographics. It plays as if there was a representative from the marketing department in the editing suite dictating where to place the top 40 pop tunes for maximum exposure.

The same could be said, quite cynically, about the film's star, Mandy Moore. From her first film AWalk To Remember to her pop albums to her Neutrogena commercials, Moore is a marketer's dream. That Moore manages a respectable performance in her new movie, How to Deal, is a sign that she is developing into quite a talented actress even as marketers attempt to manipulate her image for maximum dollars.

In How To Deal, Moore is Halley Martin, the daughter of bitterly divorced parents and exceptionally cynical about her own prospects for love. Her best friend Scarlett (Alexandra Holden) is far less cynical, she's in love with the captain of the soccer team and has begun having sex despite her friend’s disapproving, and slightly jealous, glare. Scarlett isn't the only person in Halley's life who's found love. To Halley's dismay, her father Len (Peter Gallagher), has a new girlfriend. Len, a morning radio DJ (more on that later), has fallen for his bimbette weather girl and they plan to marry live on the air. Halley's sister Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison) is also getting married, her marriage is to a preppy rich kid played by Mackenzie Astin.

With all the love in the air it's not surprising that Halley is a little sick of it, even when a hunky friend of a friend, Macon (Trent Ford), turns his sights on her. Halley makes it clear to Macon that she's not interested. Soon after though, when tragedies begin to pile up, Halley turns to Macon for support. I won't give away the film’s numerous major and minor tragedies except to say that soap opera characters don't suffer as much as poor Halley. That said, <Mandy Moore does an excellent job of not allowing the melodramatics to overcome her character. The young actress who I instructed not to quit her day job after her first film has me eating those words with her heady performance in How To Deal.

It's unfortunate however that all that surrounds her fails so miserably. The blame for this failure obviously lies with the studio and the film’s producers who compromised the story at every turn. Every emotion is underscored with a pop tune and in every moment Moore's performance appears to chafe against the film’s obvious machinations toward a happy ending. Moore's acting belies an entirely different story, one that is slightly darker and more cynical, and likely more satisfying. 

The way that How to Deal is edited, Moore's Halley succumbs very easily to Macon. Yet, you can see where Moore and director Claire Kilner were looking for something deeper that would make her revelation at the end a crescendo rather than a whimper. Add to that an underwritten supporting cast that includes a God-awful performance by Peter Gallagher as Halley's dad and a radio DJ. I happen to work in radio so Gallagher's performance grates on me on more than one level. Gallagher has to be the worst example of Hollywood's idea of a radio professional since Dolly Parton in Straight Talk. This is a truly embarrassing performance.

How To Deal is a sad example of modern Hollywood where marketability trumps story and artistry at every turn. I hope that Mandy Moore can escape the marketers and move on to more challenging roles. I never thought I would write such nice things about Mandy Moore's acting but despite my prejudice against pop stars, she earned it in How To Deal.

Movie Review Head of State

Head of State (2003) 

Directed by Chris Rock

Written by Chris Rock, Ali LeRoi 

Starring Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Dylan Baker, Nick Searcy, Lynn Whitfield 

Release Date March 28th, 2003 

Published March 27th, 2003

Just over a year ago rumors of two competing film projects about unlikely guys who become the first black President sparked rumors of a feud between the film’s respective creators. Both Chris Tucker and Chris Rock wrote and prepared to direct the competing projects and many wonder if there was some bad blood between the actors. Both quickly put those rumors to rest and now Chris Rock is the first out of the gate with Head Of State, a politically charged satire that combines Rock's biting stand up material with Farrelly Brothers style overstatement.

Rock is Mays Gilliam, an alderman from the poorest neighborhood in Washington DC. When Mays makes the news for saving an old lady and her cat from a house explosion, the headlines bring him to the attention of a shady Senator (James Rebhorn). The Senator needs a guy like Mays Gilliam because his party's Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates have just been killed; their planes ran into one another. Because the candidates were already pretty far behind in the polls and the other party's candidate (Nick Searcy) is the current Veep, a war hero and Sharon Stone's cousin, the party is ready to throw in the towel. They need a candidate that they can throw to the wolves and pave the way to the next election.

So Mays is the man and with the help of campaign advisors Martin Geller (Dylan Baker) and Debra Lassiter (Lynn Whitfield), he sets out to lose just like he's supposed to. That is until May's brother Mitch (Bernie Mac) sets his little brother straight. Stop reading the speeches you're supposed to read, quit sucking up to the special interests and just tell the plain simple and hard-to-accept truths. Once turned loose Mays actually starts connecting with voters to the dismay of the Senator and his opponent.

The film is not about its story, it's about the jokes and it's packed with laughs from beginning to end, all of them with Rock's searing satirical touch. The political humor that comes from May's speeches comes directly from Rock's standup and it's just as brilliant as it was in Bring the Pain and Bigger & Blacker. Some may be uncomfortable with Rock's take on white people in general, but it's done in a clearly satirical way and those who are too uncomfortable with it may just feel it hit too close to home.

Some critics are missing the point of Head Of State attempting to contextualize the film’s realistic characters and its over the top set pieces. None of the Head of State should be considered as reality. It's a satire with a serious point of view that takes some shots that will make many people uncomfortable. Some have compared Rock's political stances in Head Of State with those of Michael Moore and they aren't far off. They are the individual concerns of every American something Rock and Moore seem far more in touch with than any politician does.

While Rock's direction is definitely that of a rookie, he can only get better; his scriptwriting is pro level. It's funny and intelligent. The script and the film have respect for the audience’s intelligence and it will leave with as much of a smile on your face as it leaves you with issues to discuss.

Movie Review The Hunting Party

The Hunting Party (2007) 

Directed by Richard Shepard 

Written by Richard Shepard 

Starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Kruger, James Brolin, Dylan Baker 

Release Date September 14th, 2007 

Published September 13th, 2007 

Do you remember the so-called "Scud Stud"? His real name was Arthur Kent and for the uninitiated Kent was the undisputed media star of the first Iraq war. Standing against a starry Baghdad sky with missile alarms in the background and explosions not far out of the frame, Kent's handsome, steely veneer and unshakable calm was the enduring media image of the war, even beyond the deified danger boys over at CNN, probably because Bernard Shaw just isn't as pleasant to look at. Desert Storm was the peak of Arthur Kent's career. He failed in his attempt to get a massive new deal with NBC, his arrogance pricing him out of a market that already had its share of pampered divas.

Kent has since carved out a respectable career in documentaries and hosting specials on the History Channel, but he will always be the Scud Stud. The new movie The Hunting Party is a movie about a journalist not unlike Mr. Kent. The roguishly handsome, globetrotter played by Richard Gere flames out more spectacularly than Kent did, after becoming the star of the forgotten 90's conflict in Bosnia. Now a shell of the journalist he once was, he stumbles on the opportunity to regain his fortune. With the help of his trusted cameraman, played by Terrence Howard, he's going to capture the world's most wanted terrorist. If only Arthur Kent had flipped this badly, imagine The Scud Stud trying to hunt down Saddam Hussein. 

Richard Gere is perfectly cast in The Hunting Party as Simon, a man who became a media darling for his daring coverage of the Bosnian conflict. With his trusty cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard), Simon wasn't afraid to go into the fire fight if it meant getting great visuals and a great story to tell. A diva on the air and off, Simon basked in worldwide fame and its trappings, mostly in Serbian bars with beautiful Serbian women on each arm and a drink in every hand. Then, as the conflict worsened and the genocide became clearer, Simon snapped. During a live network shot from an ethnically cleansed village where bodies still burned, Simon uttered words that no one can utter on television.

He was fired immediately and began a spiraling descent, shooting and selling his own reports to tiny nations' state TV networks. Meanwhile, Duck got promoted right out of Bosnia, into a cushy gig in New York. He didn't see Simon again for nearly a decade when networks returned to Bosnia to celebrate ten years of a peace accord. Simon hasn't been heard of, even on state TV, in a few years but he too has returned and he has a story that Duck cannot resist. Simon knows where an infamous Bosnian terror leader is hiding and that though the CIA and the United Nations are supposed to be chasing him, they are in fact helping to hide him away.

With Duck and a young producer, Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg), in tow, Simon makes the journey into terrorist controlled territory for what Duck and Ben thinks will be the interview of a lifetime but is really Simon's last shot at glory. Simon intends to capture the terrorist and expose the hypocrisy of the system that protected him for a decade. Hiding this fact from Duck and Benjamin, the story turns on whether this is Simon's quest for redemption or merely an arrogant and dangerous ploy from an egomaniac grasping at straws. 

Written and directed by Richard Shepard, who crafted the modestly brilliant The Matador in 2006, The Hunting Party is based on the true story of several international journalists who did in fact seek out and find Bosnian war criminals who were being squirreled away by international politicians who would rather sweep the genocide under the rug than go to the trouble of an international trial. The main character is an American because The Hunting Party was made by Americans for Americans. That is a little insulting but nothing new from a Hollywood that has never trusted the audience to simply enjoy a well told story regardless of the nation of origin.

My cynicism about Hollywood aside, Richard Gere is the perfect actor to play Simon. Playing the crusading journalist or the pretty boy egotist, Gere wears this character like an old suit and his comfort is a comfort to us. Effortlessly charismatic, few actors hold the screen as well as Gere. The weak link here, surprisingly, is Terrence Howard who may be falling victim to Kevin Spacey syndrome. Ever since his breakthrough Oscar nomination for Hustle and Flow, Howard seems to be over-serious in every role. Whether it's the swim coach in Pride who seems constantly on the verge of tears or his the social worker of August Rush who also seems on the verge of tears, Howard is straining to bring a little extra drama to every role. In The Hunting Party, Howard is only slightly less weepy. 

The role of Duck calls for hard bitten manliness crossed with slightly over the hill cynicism. Howard tries to play that idea but then strains things to the point of once again seeming on the verge of tears. The same struggle has swallowed the career of Kevin Spacey who now plays every role with dewy eyes. It's a shame because the character of Duck is a vital cog in the machinery of The Hunting Party and without him the film goes from exciting to adequate and from thrilling to modestly compelling. This is a good story, well told by director Richard Shepard and terrific by Richard Gere but it only gets a partial recommendation because Howard fumbles his important role.