Review of Cassandra's Dream

Woody's Latest May Be His Darkest Yet

by Zachary Wigon 

Full disclosure: Woody Allen is one of my absolute favorite filmmakers, so anyone looking for a relatively "objective" review should look no further. That being said, I can't say Cassandra's Dream is one of the Woodman's stronger films, although it certainly is interesting when viewed in concert with the rest of his oeuvre. Woody's "golden period" lasted from 1977 to 1989, beginning with Annie Hall (the best American film ever made, a work of dizzying genius) and ending with Crimes And Misdemeanors, a complex, insightful film that combined typical Allen humor with a much, much darker side. It wasn't Woody's first dark film, but it was the first to significantly engage in the darkness of Woody's interest and come out triumphant (unless you count the cult-following-esque fans of Interiors, which I have yet to see). The same "dark side" was revisited again in Husbands And Wives (1992) and then not fully grappled with again until Match Point (2005). Match Point was the best film of Allen's to deal with the Dostoyevskian/existentialist themes of murder, guilt and the lack of any source of Law with a capital L in the universe; for my money, it's an improvement upon the seminal Crimes And Misdemeanors, which it pillages from ruthlessly. Woody's always known to be a relentless plagiarist, self-inflicted and otherwise. Cassandra's Dream falls into the former category, a retread of something between Match Point and the darker storyline in Crimes And Misdemeanors. Once again we're in London, this time South London, where brothers Ian and Terry (Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell) are coming under the need of money, fast. Ian, a manager at his father's restaurant, is projecting a vision of wealth to his girlfriend (Hayley Atwell) that he can't support. His facade will come crashing down unless he acquires some cash. Terry, riding a streak of luck at the racetrack and poker table, continues to play for higher stakes, until his luck turns. Now he's 90,000 quid in the hole. Where, oh where shall they turn? Cue Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), the boys' uncle dropping in for a few days, from China and en route to Los Angeles. He's a very wealthy plastic surgeon, and the boys entreat his help regarding their financial woes. He's only too happy to oblige, provided they help him out in return. Uncle Howard, it turns out, is the subject of some sort of judicial probe, and a former employee is willing to testify to Howard's wrongdoings, which would ruin him. Can his nephews "take care" of the situation? As anyone who has seen Crimes And Misdemeanors or Match Point knows, "taking care" of someone is only the beginning. Where Woody adds to his formula here is by giving us two disparate reactions to the same act - a murderer can be overwhelmed with guilt afterwards, but he can also be completely fine with it. It's all a matter of the perspective one takes, actually. Cassandra's Dream is riveting enough for the majority of the film, although the film is so predictable that one's suspense can only be maintained at so high a level. That being said, it's well told, well shot (Vilmos Zsigmond lenses the pic) and the score by Philip Glass reaches a lovely level of creepy melodrama. The film really goes off the rails in the final act, as Colin Farrell's performance becomes more overwrought and less and less believable. The decisions that McGregor's character makes are no more believable. It's as if Woody set up a fairly interesting situation - albeit a familiar one for him - but then couldn't come up with a particularly clever way to end it. That was the brilliance of Match Point, which had an ending radical enough to push it into the realm of Woody's greatest works. With Cassandra's Dream, one gets the sense that Allen, writing the script, became impatient at the end of the writing stage and just dashed out a quick conclusion. The conclusion is an absurd one, all the more so for its abrupt, rushed brevity, and forces the film to end on a totally unnatural note. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see and note how much darker Woody's world view has become as he's aged. This is the darkest of all his films that I've seen, with nary a laugh in sight. His inner fatalist/misanthrope has become fully unleashed, and with Cassandra's Dream coming only two years on the heels of Match Point, I expect we'll be seeing many more of these types of pictures from the man who was once the master of comedy. -- Zachary Wigon

Posted on 01/22/08 by: FC Scribes 12:45 AM