A24
Nicolas Cage, after more than 100 credits, has finally landed his dream role, at least as far as comedy fans are concerned. He knocks him out of the park as a balding, schlubby college professor who suddenly starts appearing in people’s dreams, first in the dreams of his daughter, then in the dreams of his old girlfriend, and soon millions of people around the world are seeing this ordinary-looking, very ordinary man walking through him. They hibernate in fairly nondescript ways no matter the situation. It turns into a phenomenon, until it turns around and the whole thing turns into a real nightmare.
This is the inspirational comedy premise of dream scenario, Perhaps the most ingenious on-screen idea Woody Allen has ever done kingthough it might be interesting if he did (think quirky Zelig). Instead, it comes from the mind of Norwegian director Christopher Borgley, whose main reason for fame prior to this film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend, was its entry into Cannes 2022 with a look. Sick of myself. but Dream scenario It marks his English-language debut, and based on this hilarious, character-driven film, it could be the answer to the question: Who is the world’s next great comedy filmmaking talent? In addition to writing and directing the film, he also serves as his own film editor, which may be why the comedy beats of this movie are so great.
A riot like this sweet and unremarkable guy who suddenly gets his 15 minutes of fame, Cage is clearly in perfect sync with what his director had in mind, even tweaking his voice for maximum effect in addition to his recognizable look. More often than not, Burghley projects the same smiling portrayal of Paul Matthews’ character Cage onto the screen and gets a big laugh every time.
What’s remarkable is Burghley’s ability to stretch the premise of a single joke into a 101-minute film without letting the soufflé fizzle out — no easy task. Paul Matthews is like a million ordinary men wandering the planet – you’ll never look at him again – except somehow he starts appearing in other people’s dreams. There is a very funny encounter early in the stage between Paul and his wife, Janet He didn’t He had a dream in which he appeared (one of the best jokes), he ran into an old friend who told him the dream she had just had after she had last seen him decades ago and had never thought about him. He’s unfazed, and Janet is a little put off, but things quickly escalate, first with his students and then everywhere. He’s become a real celebrity, but all Paul really wants is a publishing deal for his book idea about ants (which others misunderstand as being about plants). Even a major corporation comes calling in the name of “Ideas”, run by baseball cap-wearing CEO Trent (Michael Cera) and his partner Mary (Kate Berlant) who call him in to try to sell on their “ideas” to him, pointing out that Sprite is already on board for the idea. To make an advertisement where Paul enters his dreams while holding their product. As they say, even a movie deal is possible, but Paul just wants help with it dream book suggestion. One comic highlight is a young woman (Dylan Gelula) having sexual dreams about Paul who turns into a “date” as she tries to make the dream come true. You can guess where Which He goes, but gets the kind of laugh-out-loud comedy the writers dream about themselves.
However, things start to go wrong, and Paul’s fortunes change when the dreams in which he appears turn into Freddy Krueger-style horror movies, and everyone is now afraid to death of the man who gives them nightmares. Even his class wouldn’t show up.
The cage is glue. His seemingly effortless timing and invaluable reactions carry this premise all the way, and keep you laughing constantly. The actor has seen a renaissance recently with his acclaimed work in offbeat films like pig And The unbearable heaviness of colossal talent. He has already said that he thinks this is his best film, which means A.J a lot. The jokes are delivered almost every time in a smart, committed way that makes this comedy sing. And the supporting cast, especially Cera, does the game perfectly as well.
Comedy has been an endangered species in Hollywood lately, but if… Dream scenario Is there any indication they might come back with a vengeance if the right talent get their chance. Burghley is definitely one of them.
The producers are Lars Knudsen, Ari Aster, Tyler Campelloni, Jacob Jafke, and Cage.
Title: Dream scenario
distributor: A24 films
release date: November 10, 2023
festival: Toronto Film Festival (The Podium)
Director and screenwriter: Christopher Burghley
ejaculate: Nicolas Cage, Julian Nicholson, Lily Bird, Jessica Clement, Tim Meadows, Michael Cera, Kate Berlant, Dylan Gilula, Kara Volchoff, Noah Centineo, Nicholas Braun, Dylan Baker.
running time: 1 hour and 41 minutes
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