Dream House Review

Rated PG-13 (Violence, Terror, Some Sexuality and Brief Strong Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 32 Minutes

Cast:

Daniel Craig-Will Atenton

Rachel Weisz-Libby Atenton

Naomi Watts-Ann Patterson

Marton Csokas-Jack Patterson

Elias Koteas-Boyce

Taylor Geare-Trish Atenton

Claire Geare-Dee Dee Atenton

Rachel G. Fox-Chloe Patterson

Directed by Jim Sheridan

Hold on, this looks like a job for James Bond...

With millions of dollars at stake, mainstream Hollywood films often find themselves at the mercy of studio executives, and they’re usually never the brightest crayon in the box. Irish director and six-time Academy Award nominee Jim Sheridan has helmed a number of critically-acclaimed films such as 1989's "My Left Foot," 1993's "In the Name of the Father," and 2003's semi-autobiographical "In America." His most recent film, 2009's "Brothers," based on Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish film "Brødre," received mixed reviews but I felt it was an above-average drama elevated by the strength of its three leads. Sheridan has a penchant for tackling scripts involving haunted characters but his latest film, "Dream House," is a complete disaster given the high-profile cast involved and the director’s pedigree. According to unconfirmed reports, Sheridan clashed with CEO of Morgan Creek Productions James G. Robinson during production and as a result, he lost control of the film and the studio edited it without his participation. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz disliked the final cut so much that they have refused to do any press promotion or interviews for it. No premiere was held and the film wasn’t screened for critics so it comes as no surprise that Universal Pictures was embarrassed and quietly dumped it in the last week of September. While there’s nothing wrong with the performances themselves, "Dream House" suffers from an identity crisis with its derivative plot, sloppy pacing, and lapses in logic. It's just sad to see all this talent and money being wasted due to some meddling studio executive. 

Successful New York publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) quits his job to work on his novel and spend more time with his wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) and two young daughters, Trish and Dee-Dee (Taylor and Claire Geare), relocating them to the quiet suburbs of New Ashford, Connecticut. As his family happily settles in, strange events begin to occur with Dee-Dee glimpsing a man lurking outside the house. After catching a group of wild teens holding a séance in the basement, Will learns that his house was once the site of a horrific murder that occurred five years ago. A man named Peter Ward shot his wife and children in cold blood but with insufficient evidence against him, he was released from nearby Greenhaven Psychiatric Hospital. As Will investigates the house's past, he comes to suspect that his neighbor, Ann Paterson (Naomi Watts), knows more than she is letting on but that’s the least of his concerns when he makes a horrific revelation about himself and the murders. 

The official trailer has already spoiled one of two plot twists in "Dream House" but the film is still a dull and derivative affair, liberally 'borrowing' elements from "The Amityville Horror" to even "Fight Club." Even if you go in knowing as little as possible, nothing makes sense and the final reveal is so poorly explained that you'll leave the theater scratching your head in confusion. It's hard to analyze the film without going into spoiler territory but what was marketed as a conventional horror flick is actually a psychological thriller/drama and it's easy to see why Sheridan was drawn to the script as it deals with a man trapped and unable to let go of his past due to suffering an extremely traumatic event. Unfortunately, these elements are handled in a slipshod manner, no thanks to its clumsy pacing where the aforementioned 'twist' is revealed around the forty-minute mark, leaving all the build-up to be a waste. The best analogy I can use to describe it (and I may be already revealing too much) is to take Leonardo DiCaprio's Edward 'Teddy' Daniels in "Shutter Island" and have him discover the truth about himself half-way through the film but he spends the next hour trying to prove it despite the fact that he and the audience already know. Adding insult to injury, "Dream House" sees fit to offer up another twist in the climax that is both confusing and ludicrous as two characters that have what amounts to glorified cameos suddenly become central to the plot. Its supernatural leanings come into question as well, leaving us to wonder if anything in the film is actually happened at all. In fact, the film suffers from an identity crisis as it's unsure of whether it wants to be a haunted house tale or a murder mystery or both. The attempts to generate suspense fall flat and the only praise I can really muster is Caleb Deschanel's cinematography and the warm, if somewhat maudlin, drama that Craig and Weisz generate. 

Despite David Loucka's hackneyed script working against him, Daniel Craig does manage to give a nuanced performance, or as nuanced as a film of this genre allows, exhibiting genuine warmth as a loving father and representing a nice change of pace from the usual roles he takes that involve him staring grimly with those piercing blue eyes. Rachel Weisz is fine if not particularly noteworthy but her on-set romance (and eventual marriage) with Craig lends the drama a sense of realism. The two really belong in a better film and one wonders how it all would've turned out if Sheridan had just made a straight character drama. Naomi Watts is simply wasted, as is Marton Csokas and Elias Koteas. I sure hope they were at least paid well for their time. 

Released on September 30, 2011, "Dream House" was not screened for critics in advance and what little reviews that have cropped up are all overwhelmingly negative with a tepid 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, as critics concluded that the film was 'punishingly slow, stuffy, and way too obvious to be scary.' I viewed the film at a morning screening and audience attendance was mediocre at best, which means that it'll struggle to make back its unusually high $55 million production budget. With only rumors to go on, it's hard to tell who is really at fault—Sheridan or Morgan Creek—that resulted in such a terrible film but I'm sure the story behind the troubled production is a lot more interesting than the one we're provided here. If I were to venture a guess based on precedent alone (remember David Fincher's "Alien 3"?), I would lay the blame on Morgan Creek. While the core premise of "Dream House" is intriguing, its pleasing aesthetics and above-average performances cannot save a script that lacks energy, any logical coherence and telegraphs all of its twists beforehand. Perhaps Sheridan should've just disowned the film outright and resurrect the pseudonym Alan Smithee.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

"Once upon a time, there were two little girls who lived in a house."