What the hell is this? I mean….what…..the hell…..is…..this? It’s….a Stephen King adaptation, adapted by William Goldman (the writer of All The President’s Men, The Princess Bride, The Stepford Wives, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Sting) and directed by Lawrence Kasden (the director of Body Heat, Silverado and The Big Chill) somehow made…..this.
First to clear up the controversy or whatever may come of me putting a Stephen King movie on this list because Stephen King is high brow. However, I sincerely hope that if nothing else this doesn’t paint this masterpiece as highbrow at all.
What the hell is this movie about though? It’s just the long told story of a group of Bros, their psychic mentally handicapped friend’s battle to destroy an interplanetary alien menace wanting to destroy the world…one of those.
Dreamcatcher is apparently becoming somewhat of a cult classic these days as it seems there’s been a reappraisal of this film as of late which I completely support. However, this film I don’t think has the fan base I feel a film as odd as it deserves.
The cast ESPECIALLY NOW is spectacular including the legendary duo of the equally exceptional Thomas Jane (from the 2,004 Punisher, Hung, the very underrated Stander, Predator and so much more), Timothy Olyphant (from Justified, Go, Live Free or Die Hard, Deadwood and more), Damien Lewis (from Homeland, Band of Brothers, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and more), Jason Lee (from Dogma, Chasing Amy and more), Morgan Freeman (who you better know) and more. There’s also just random moments of what the hell(?) that only a brilliant writer like Goldman could bring like Thomas Jane talking to a gun as a cell phone.
The immortally awesome villain term coined by Morgan Freeman himself as and I quote “S*** Weasels”. I know?! How did this movie not win every screenwriting award?
Bet your a** it has a huge budget too as it was graced with a price tag of sixty eight million dollars (which for context X-Men, still a recent blockbuster cost 75 million dollars). That’s very well shown as there’s a lot of great (say it with me now) but stupid action scenes including a massive fight against a foreign alien hive, legit cool alien designs and portrayals of psychic powers and more.
I don’t get it…at all, but I love it. I adore how much this film shouldn’t be and the madness it represents of a film with far too much of a budget and accolades and too little sense. I feel that that makes it truly beautiful and very much a bro film of legend.