and in particular, Alan Rudolph,
whose neo-noir masterpiece
and proper cult movie Trouble in
Mind this leans heavily on, right
down to ripping off its climax
and melancholic jazz score.
It’s nice to see McHattie given
a role he can chew on, and his
commitment to the film’s pseudo
surreality keeps you invested
up to the point where you realize
it’s going nowhere of note.
There are brief glimpses of Mc-
Donald’s black humor, like when
Maestro’s attempt to win back
his pawned trumpet at gunpoint
takes a twist when the pawnbroker’s
wife encourages him to kill
her husband. But Dreamland is
just trying too damn hard, constantly
poking us in the ribs and
begging us to find it all so crazy.
It’s the cinematic equivalent of
one of those workplace signs
that reads “You don’t have to be
mad to work here, but it helps.” •
Dreamland
2 ½ stars out of 5
Directed by: Bruce McDonald
Starring: Juliette Lewis,
Stephen McHattie, Henry Rollins,
Tómas Lemarquis, Lisa Houle
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 71
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