Dream a Little Dream

source: Dream a Little Dream

OK, cats out of the bag, I have had a crush,...or more of a crunch on Merideth Salanger since i was....when did this movie come out?? Otherwize this move was great, soundtrack and all. The "Corey Brothers" were outstanding as usual, Merideth was HOT, even the weirdo parents of Feldmans character played,...what ever parts those were perfectly....a bit odd, but perfect. The old man was great too, as was his beautiful wife. All in all, the story line was great, and even at my young age at the time, was simple enough to follow. I just loved this movie, it is number one of my top ten.

I consider this film to be one of the staples of growing up in this society. The script has fun with the trials and nuances of growing up, without being preachy. On the plot side, this film can be a little difficult to follow on the first time watching, as the story is very imaginative and surreal. Viewers are flitted back and forth between reality and a very well-done dream sequence that features great performances by the talented Jason Robards and Corey Feldman.

The third film to feature both Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, this time Feldman is the lead, and Haim gets to play the second fiddle character. Feldman plays Bobby, who likes to take a short cut through an old man's yard. One day, he gets into a bike accident in the middle of the night in his yard with his future love interest (Meredith Salenger). When Bobby awakes he realizes that he is in the old man's body. Haim of course dosen't believe it and frequently says his usual sarcastic lines while William McNamara plays a high school jock who is kind of the on-and-off bully/friend to Bobby. Of course we can't forget the list of veteran actors in the film, we have Academy Award winners Jason Robards and Piper Laurie playing the elderly couple, character actor Harry Dean Stanton plays the weird neighbor and TV veteran actress Susan Blakely also has a small cameo role. I liked the film and the hard rock in roll music in the film is a blast! It can be a little hard to follow and confussing at times, but it's a fine family film.

While the latter 1980s were absolutely gagged with lame body-switching comedies like the listless Vice Versa and Like Father, Like Son, I found something entirely different and actually inspiring in Dream a Little Dream. Buoyed by strong performances, Dream is not at all what you'd expect it would be. Much to my surprise, it is actually a smart, witty, intelligent and touching look at old age and adolecence by way of new age philosophy. Corey Feldman gives one of his best performances, and no, that's not a joke, and Haim is never better anywhere than he is in his small role as the oddball best friend Dinger. Obviously it didn't hurt to have a three time Oscar nominee like the late, great Jason Robards on board. This movie really does have something for everyone, and I'm being a hundred percent serious. So many "oh so serious" types like to bash movies like this, but I'm a writer, and I love good, interesting movies, and I truly see this as one of them. What a terrific, quirky little gem produced by the Two Coreys before midnight, January 1st, 1990 when their careers suddenly spiralled down the toilet. Funny, touching, and utterly enjoyable.

So far it's just a bunch of random scenes and montages and hip sounding music and the Corey's seemingly improv-ing the whole movie. Wow. Is it me?

I'm confused as to how this movie has so many amazing ratings compared to the quality of the movie. It was bad. Corey Haim was barely in it and his character didn't have to be in it, they just wanted to market it as another "The Two Coreys" film, which is understandable, but it's disappointing that he didn't play a bigger role. Music was thrown in at the most random points in the film as a desperate attempt to grab the watcher's attention and create a fun atmosphere. Well, it grabbed my attention for one thing, but definitely not in the way it wanted to. The plot is incredibly confusing and there is a really awkward scene where Corey Feldman performs a song to the lead chick (wife of Patton Oswalt, can't remember her name). It was a waste of time and I wish I could have that time back to watch a more worthy 80s film that actually was a classic, not some weird material that would be insufferable in any decade. Do not watch "Dream a Little Dream" if you're looking for a cute throwback film. If you really like Corey Feldman and Corey Haim and you really just want to see a movie with the both of them in it, choose this film as a last effort if you have no access to The Lost Boys.

Bobby Kellar has a crush on Lainie Diamond, girlfriend of school jerk Joel. Coleman is working on an experiment which will help him move into a place where Dreams are reality. When an accident occurs Coleman finds himself in Bobby's body and can only contact Bobby in his dreams. Part of his wife's mind has also ended up in Lainie. To bring his and his wife's body back to reality, Coleman must agree to fix Bobby's messed up life..... Out of all the body swap movies of the late eighties, this has to be the one that killed that little sub-genre, because it's boring beyond belief. Yes, it has the two Corey's in it, but Haim is hardly there, and Feldman spends his role acting like a posh Michael Jackson for the majority of the film. But the main problem is that the film tries too hard to be something different from the rest of the body swap films, and in doing that turns a neat concept into something more mundane, even macabre in some scenes. Films like Big, and Vice Versa were fun movies, predictable, but fun nevertheless. Here we get Jason Robards maundering around a dreamworld with awful foley work, and Feldman popping up every now and again acting as smug as smug can be. And it's just gets too complicated and boring to understand, and to care about what is going on and what happens to the characters. Stick with The Lost Boys and License To Drive....

So I went into this movie totally expecting it to have the things i wanted. One being its from the 80s, two being it has the Coreys. Unfortunately this movie was so strange and disturbing that I just couldn't quite get into it even though I wanted to. It has a lot of strange themes. For instance the old man becomes Corey Feldman's character (who for the whole movie dresses dances and just looks like Michael Jackson) and then continues to kiss and date the Rick Nelson look alike's girlfriend. Even though he's looking for his wife (who is the mom from Carrie....talk about creepy). So it has this weird pedophile Michael Jackson feel to it. Not to mention it seems like the music tends to over power the movie at some points. And its not even good 80s music or popular things. And with Corey Feldman dancing in the background like Michael Jackson it really just ruins it. But then again some people may like that...Corey Haim has a smaller role in this too, even though I think he may have been able to save the movie had he had a larger role. All in all it was mostly strange but I got a few laughs out of it. It ends on a strange note as well, a picture of the mother from Carrie smiling still frame...I laughed but was a little disturbed. I'd say skip this one. Stick to License to Drive or The Lost Boys.

I checked that this may be a spoiler just in case i say something that happens in the movie....It seems that most of the people who have seen this movie just don't get it....there is a magic in the movie that most people seem to overlook, this movie has not as much to do with the Corey's, as it has to do with the story, and if you just watch the story unfold and listen to the strategically placed soundtrack you would see the magic in the movie, it's all about the relationships, c'mon watch the 2 couples having similar conversations and the way Gina asks Coleman why he loves her and he says cause I saw the other half of me. If you just watch the movie and let your mind go and enjoy the story you WILL fall in love with the movie, and the music in the movie. If you're looking for a hot female, you have her in this movie, she is a nice addition to a wonderful story, I just love this movie, and I always will.