[Farrell] has done his best work with this performance, and he may have a triumphant career before him as a character actor in difficult roles.
Cassandra's Dream (2008)
Tomatometer
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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: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for thematic elements, some sexual material and brief violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jan 18, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $871,646
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
Me ton Phillip Glass na toy bgazei ti misi doyleia ap' tin ihitiki mpanta, o Woody Allen rihnei mia diaforetiki matia sto thema toy thanatoy, anazitontas ton sto esoteriko toy zontanoy, meso tis allagis poy epiferei sto eksoteriko toy, i dolofonia tis ith
If the condescending Allen doesn't offer a context for Ian and Terry's behavior it's because he feels covetousness is a given for the lower-class, and so Cassandra's Dream is simply content reprimanding the brothers for not knowing their place.
Hopefully, Allen has finally gotten the UK out of his system with his latest substandard film.
Allen's writing here is so lacking in vigor and purpose that much of the film seems to be on nothing more than autopilot, a faded and tissue-paper-thin retread from a filmmaker who should know better.
With Match Point and now Cassandra’s Dream, Allen exposes the frailty of selfish desire and the compelling seduction of risk-taking behavior. He understands these emotions and has delivered two fascinating, enjoyable films.
Scottish McGregor and Irish Farrell are not convincing as Brit siblings in Allen's pyschological thriller, which lacks irony or depth and can't decide how it wants to be taken by the audience, as melodrama, crimer, or serio-comic critique?
A Scottish actor struggles with an Irish thesp to maintain a lower-middle-class London accent but Woody Allen succeeds in maintaining tension in mining melodrama territory.
This is archly contrived nail-biter territory and an almost giddy strain on our nerves as Allen moves his hapless heroes from bad to far worse.
An exceedingly well acted and sporadically electrifying little thriller.
Strong performances, especially from the never-better Farrell. This might be the first time I've watched him and not been completely distracted by that big black caterpillar above his eyes.
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.
Like a tragic overture played at the wrong tempo and slightly off-key, Woody Allen's London-set Cassandra's Dream sends out more mixed signals than an inebriated telegraphist.
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