The 2011 film Dream House was a pleasant surprise. I had no real intention of watching the film as the marketing on it left a lot to be desired. But as it was on Sky Movies I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did. It turned into a pleasant surprise, despite the somewhat jumbled editing and plot holes.
Directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father) and starring Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, the film is a psychological thriller that was marketed as a horror film. The film, when released got almost universally panned by critics. Although that does seem to be the modus operandi when films are not pre-screened for critics.
The other problem the film encountered was that Jim Sheridan had major problems with the producers Morgan Creek Productions. Morgan Creek took the film away from the director and did their own final cut on the film. Sheridan then attempted to have his name removed from the production. Two of the film’s stars, Craig and Weisz, also refused to do any publicity for the film.
Daniel Craig was completely disgusted by the final product. But in interviews after the fact revealed that while he did not like the finished film, he did meet his future wife Rachel Weisz so it was “a fair trade.”
The film follows Will Atenton (Craig) who has quit his desk job and is going to write a book. He has a leaving party and goes to his new home away from the city and starts his new job as novelist. His family consists of wife Libby (Weisz), and their two daughters Trish and DeeDee.
The small family seem to have an almost idyllic life until they start being threatened by someone who is watching their every move and the local police will not help them. Apart from a reluctantly helpful neighbour, Ann Patterson (Watts), no one in the small town is on their side.
Will decides he must help his family alone and he learns that the house his perfect family live in was the scene of a gruesome murder.
The story moves on quite well and the pacing, though uneven, is still on-par for the genre. Despite the director’s unhappiness with the final product, it is overall a very satisfactory film. Dream House, for all its negative reviews is a pleasant surprise. The plot twists, when they appeared were genuinely surprising and by the end of the film, I almost had a tear in my eye.
Almost.
It would have been nice to see the film that Sheridan, Craig and Weisz had imagined. It is not unusual for producers to snatch a film from a director after disagreements arise. In this case you are left wondering just how powerful the original vision must have been.
All the actors do a brilliant job in the film. Craig proved, once again, that he is not just a “Bond” one-trick pony. He had shown his acting chops well before he took on 007 and it was nice to see those chops reaffirmed. Weisz is as usual a pleasure to watch, she always brings a huge degree of believability to any role she undertakes.
Naomi Watts does her standard good job as the neighbour who knows much more than she lets on. Honourable mentions have to go to Elias Koteas and Martin Csokas as the film’s two “boogie-men.”
The film looked brilliant in terms of cinematography and set design. The switching between the “dream house” and its uglier more derelict appearance was done masterfully and with just enough of a seam to show how the character’s were seeing it.
Plot holes and dangling storyline were not a huge issue, although the actual plot device had been done before, most notably in Jim Carrey‘s The Number 23. But Dream House was, overall, a pleasant surprise and well worth the time spent watching it. I was suitably impressed, despite the film’s troubled beginnings. I’d give it a four out of five stars for entertainment.
MIchael Smith
United Kingdom
11 September, 2013
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Definitely worth a look mate!! 🙂
Hi Mike! 🙂 Is it strange I was looking at the DVD for this film specifically when I was in Blockbuster yesterday? XD Anyways good review, I was thinking about checking this one out and I think I may give it a watch now that you’ve said that its worth a watch.
Luckily for me, I couldn’t remember the trailers! LOL Thanks mate! 🙂
Thanks mate! Yeah, the trailer issue really grated with the director, he was furious!
Not a bad idea! I really enjoyed it!
Good review, Mike! I wasn’t too impressed the first go but I may need to give it a re-watch soon. Like Dan said before me the trailers gave out way too much info.
God, I remembered this. I didn’t hate it as much as everybody else in the world seemed to, but I do remember the trailers giving away almost everything in the movie from start to finish, and it was a real bummer. Nice review Mike.
the marketing didn’t put me off at all to be honest, I got what I expected so I was happy!
Gosh, I checked my old blog and it was a year ago in April that I watched it, damn…time for a rewatch methinks!!!
No worries mate! It was surprisingly good!
Agreed! I cannot for the life of me remember why I was not interested in this film when it was released. Probably down to the marketing of the film when it opened! ;-p
Now I’m really curious to see this. Thanks, Mike.
Saw this film ages ago and loved it…partially because Daniel Craig is just…well…yeah 😉
But it was a nice surprise and twist on a cliche genre…a little-known film that deserves more recognition in my opinion 🙂