Paul (Nicolas Cage) is just a very average college professor who wants to gain some attention in the scientific world with his book - that's all in his head, he just has to actually write it. And now he fears his idea he has never put into words will be stolen from him. But at least he has a wife, Jan (Julianne Nicholson) and two daughters (Lily Bird, Jessica Clement) to fall back on, and has by all measures a satisfactory life. And then he appears in other people's dreams - and not just people he knows, but also total strangers. And generally he doesn't do anything in these dreams, just walks by people who are in often terrible predicaments. That alone makes him feel guilty though, that he doesn't help any of these people - in their dreams he has no control over that is. However, this soon makes Paul into an internet phenomenon, and soon calls onto plan a PR agent, Trent (Michael Cera), who wants to exploit his fame financially - by making him a spokesperson for Sprite. For Paul that's a big no-no - until he's promised a bookdeal for the book he still hasn't written. Also, Trent has an assistant, Molly (Dylan Geluta), who confesses to Paul she has also dreams about him - but they're of a very sexual nature, and she has thus totally fallen for him. Now Paul's a happily married man, but still Molly's a very attractive young woman, so when she asks Paul to help her recreate her dreams, he doesn't say no but tells her he won't go all the way - and then has a premature exaculation all the same. This leaves him somehow emasciated - and after this, the way everyone dreams about him changes, as they suddenly see him as this violent torturer and murderer, and suddenly everyone's afraid of him - for nothing he has actually done in person or could even influence, but he has suddenly become everybody's boogeyman, he loses his job, his family, even the respect of his friends, and the more desperate he gets the more he just buries his own grave ...

Now this is an unusual one: Nicolas Cage plays Woody Allen (or rather Allen's portrayal of himself in his movies), both in terms of looks and mannerisms, in a story where Allen at his neurotic best is also Freddie Krueger - and it goes to the film's credit that direct Freddie-allusions are made more than once. Now ok, all of this might sound like a recipe for disaster, but thanks to a script that's as intelligent as it's far-fetched, this works storywise, and Cage manages to pull his character off in one of his more restrained performances, while still letting his trademark madness shine through every now and again. And somehow the direction's relative neglect for horror tropes, coupled with some sophisticated comedy, really helps bring its genre story to life in a maybe unusual but highly enjoyable way.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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