Nicolas Cage stars as a perfectly ordinary professor stuck in a rut. His life changes drastically when for some mysterious reason he begins appearing in the dreams of perfect strangers. As more and more people see him in their dreams, Cage becomes something of a minor celebrity. Things take a turn for the worse for Cage when people’s dreams of him start turning into nightmares.
Cage has been giving quirky and idiosyncratic performances for decades, so it’s nice when he finds a project just as quirky and idiosyncratic as he is. He seems to be channeling the same energy he had in Adaptation for his sad sack loser character. In fact, the whole thing kind of plays like Charlie Kaufman Lite. The dream scenes are very well done as the little oddball details make most of the sequences feel like the real McCoy and not so much a movie version of a dream. Cage also seems to be having a blast playing such a schlub, even if his character is a bit one-note (although that’s kind of the point). He’s especially good in the later scenes when everyone (including his family) turns on him.
The supporting cast is good too. Julianne Nicholson makes for a fine contrast to Cage’s off-kilter energy as his bewildered wife. I also enjoyed Tim Meadows as Cage’s boss as well as Michael Cera as his image consultant who tries to get him hired for Sprite commercials.
Dream Scenario is at its best when Cage is dealing with his newfound fame since virtually everyone is dreaming of him. The scenes of him being wooed by a woman (Dylan Gelula) who has explicit sexual dreams about him are particularly amusing. The movie also plays with themes such as celebrity in the smartphone age, reality never meeting expectations, and cancel culture, although it stops short of making a big statement about any of them.
It would’ve been nice if the film was a bit meatier and/or if Cage’s character had been more complex. However, like dreams themselves, it’s odd and amusing. And maybe a little forgettable.
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