In Dreams

Rating: ***
Date Seen: 1999-01-15

I did not go into this movie with high expectations. After perusing several negative reviews on the Internet, I almost changed my mind about wanting to see it. But I decided to go with my instincts on this one. I'm glad I did. To hell with the critics.

Dark? Yes. Unclear, ambiguous, what some might call a disjointed storyline? Some portions were. Those were the portions I enjoyed the most. This is a movie about a mentally disturbed person. When showing events (and imaginings) from that person's perspective, things are bound to be distorted and wacked. Especially when you consider that the cause of the disturbances is psychic emissions from an evil source. Put that together with the loss of a loved one, along with the fact that Annette Bening's character is none too stable to begin with. It's a recipe for craziness.

Don't get me wrong. This is no movie of the year either. What it does have is just under two hours of interesting, surreal, and suspenseful horror. It was well acted and well filmed, almost always kept a good pace, and most importantly, I enjoyed it.