Movie Review: Dreamcatcher

Based on a novel by Steven King

Dreamcatcher (2003)

I have become a slave to Netflix, but as long as they continue to release movies like Dreamcatcher, we will be right as rain. Unless the price goes any higher, then peace. (probably)

That being said Dreamcatcher (yes I’m reviewing a 13 year-old movie) was a horror-genre masterpiece, revealing itself to the world again through Netflix and hopefully putting some money in the filmmakers' pockets.

The story is about a group of childhood friends that have stayed in close contact because of a special friend they met named Duddits. The childhood scenes, which were comparatively much lighter and helped to break up the intensity, while also revealing some of the plot twists and missing pieces, was done very effectively. Probably kept to a minimum for budgetary reasons, but the childhood scenes’ brevity keeps the kids likable and keeps them from becoming annoying.

From a filmmaking perspective, in this movie the story carries the day. This film obviously cost a good amount of money to make, especially given the fact that it was made thirteen years ago, but the story and plot were effective enough keep me from getting nit-picky over some of the special effects.

The slugs however, seemed to have been crafted by a nightmare professional. Dreamcatcher gets pretty gross at times, I’m not super-into that sort of thing, but this film utilizes it properly.

Dreamcatcher was 2 hours and 13 minutes long which can be an eternity to people with short attention spans. I would suggest committing to watching the film and trying not to multitask (I know that’s impossible). To go into the complexity and detail of the plot would make this review way too long. I will say that the creative details linking everything together were complex without losing focus and the actors all gave great performances, a fact that probably is under-appreciated.

Having Tom Siesmore at the military helm was as always, great. His professional subtly played perfectly with an eccentric Morgan Freeman, who is just as effective as a villain. Thomas Jane was perfectly cast as the quasi-leader of the grown-up children. I loved his explanation of the supernatural connection that all the friends had to each other as them being “you know, weird”.

The childhood friendship seemed keep all the characters young and their funny cursing one-liners were greatly appreciated. Jason Lee I would have loved to see more of (us Jersey people adopted Lee as an idol after “Mall Rats”). Did you know Jason Lee invented the tre-flip on a skateboard?

Timothy Olyphant plays a good car salesman. His scene helping the attractive lady who lost her keys was the driving force that traps you into wanting to watch the rest of the movie. Damian Lewis was a testament to great casting directors. His portrayal of “Jonesy” and the antagonist “Mr. Grey” was entertaining and effective.

This is why I love supernatural thrillers. The creative imagination of a filmmaker can create a new reality that if explained properly can be accepted and enjoyed. Horror films help the mundane real lives most people lead seem blessed in comparison. This film achieved that while also being a very fun adventure.

Overall - Must See (Make sure you have the time to put in. If your significant other asks a lot of annoying questions, maybe watch it by yourself.)