Cassandra's Dream (2007)
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 116
Fresh: 53 | Rotten: 63
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.
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 21
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.
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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 121,372
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Movie Info
Director Woody Allen continued to work in the dark mold of his 2005 thriller Match Point with this suspenseful tale of two brothers (Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor) transformed into mortal enemies after scheming to alleviate their financial difficulties by turning to crime. Ian (McGregor) and Terry Blaine (Farrell) are two Cockney siblings whose lives seem to have simply fallen apart. While hard-drinking auto mechanic Terry lives with his girlfriend, Kate (Sally Hawkins), and suffers all the
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Cast
-
Hayley Atwell
Angela -
Colin Farrell
Terry -
Sally Hawkins
Kate -
Ewan McGregor
Ian -
Tom Wilkinson
Howard -
John Benfield
Father -
Paul Davis
Poker Player -
Peter Hugo
Boat Owner -
Clare Higgins
Mother -
Ashley Medekwe
Lucy -
Andrew Howard
Jerry -
Keith Smee
Terry's Track Mate -
Steve Noonan
Mel -
Dan Carter
Fred -
Richard Lintern
Director -
Jennifer Higham
Helen -
Lee Whitlock
Mike -
Michael Harm
Estate Agent -
Hugh Rathbone
Poker Player -
Allan Ramsey
Poker Player -
Terry Budin Jones
Poker Player -
Franck Viano
Poker Player -
Tommy Mack
Poker Player -
Milo Bodrozic
Poker Player -
Emily Gilchrist
Dora -
Phil Davis
Martin Burns -
George Richmond
Bernard -
Phyllis Roberts
Burns' Mother -
Tamzin Outhwaite
Burns' Date -
Cate Fowler
Angela's Mother -
David Horovitch
Angela's Father -
Matt Barlock
Jaguar Owner -
Jim Carter
Garage Boss -
Tom Fisher
Nigel -
Paul Gardner
Bentley Salesman -
Mark Umbers
Eisley -
Maggie McCarthy
Servant -
Richard Graham
Detective -
Ross Boatman
Detective
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Cassandra's Dream Trailer & Photos
All Critics (119) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (63) | DVD (10)
Farrell and McGregor bring much to their roles...to make Cassandra's Dream an effective and chilling ride.
Top CriticIt's enough to make you pine for the good old days -- back when life was only partly ironic and Woody was totally funny.
These characters not only don't talk like working-class Londoners, they don't talk like anyone.
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.
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.
Although McGregor and Farrell produce some occasionally spirited moments, particularly in the earlier scenes, they are little more than walking and talking schemes, their choices based entirely on socioeconomic impulses.
By no means is this lukewarm drama Woody Allen's worst work, but it's no dream, either.
Everything is utterly disengaged
Cassandra's Dream is, in fact, not the worst film in the Woodman's oeuvre. But it does tend to underline his weaknesses.
Woody Allen still insists on making movies at the rate of one a year, but he clearly needs to slow down. A lot.
Disappointing, badly overwritten drama from Woody Allen, rendered almost unwatchable by dreadful Cockney accents from McGregor and Farrell.
At this point, I guess we should just applaud Allen for his work ethic.
By the time the blokes played by McGregor and Farrell get around to confronting their misdeeds, they're the only ones who care.
Although all the performances are remarkable, the actors can't break free from the too neat-and-tidy script.
A clumsy, clichéd morality play that may actually represent the lowest point of Allen's recently chequered career.
Audience Reviews for Cassandra's Dream
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Father: What the hell do you need a boat for? And how are you gonna pay for it?
- Ian: It's secondhand.
- Father: So you're buying someone else's headaches.
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Foreign Titles
- Le Rêve de Cassandre (FR)
- El sueño de Casandra (ES)
The film follows two cash strapped brothers played by Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell who agree to kill a business associate for their wealthy uncle played by the always reliable class act Tom Wilkinson. There's also love going on as well, with Hayley Atwell being the main attraction for McGregor. Though she got major exposure later in Captain America: The First Avenger, she proves quite appealing here, too.
The main plot wouldn't be so bad had this not been released around the same time as Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead- a much similar, but far superior crime thriller. Also, though the film skirts around it, it ultimately fails to live up to the hope of fully incorporating the ideas from the folklore figure Cassandra the ignored doomsayer.
The film is shot extremely well, looks gorgeous, and has some great music, and, while it is fun to see the two male leads interact, none of the performers really bring their A game, and that includes Allen. The lack of heart and soul to the proceedings is quite obvious, and ultimately this comes off as less of an earnest effort and more of just something Allen made just to fulfill his pattern of releasing at least one film a year.