Dreamcatcher

DREAMCATCHER

Release Date: February 2nd, 2004
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 128 minutes

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damien Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore, Donnie Wahlberg

What struck when I first saw Dreamcatcher was how remarkably cross-genre it was, not only did it surpass my expectations as a King adaptation, but it also went beyond the usual aliens-chase-human-chase-aliens storyline and delivered an intelligent, well thought out story which was well acted, filmed and scored. The cinematography in this movie is superb and the special effects are ingenious and very imaginative. But you may well be asking, so what the heck is this film about anyway?

After four friends perform a heroic act as children and gain psychic powers in return, they reunite every winter in Maine to hunt, drink and celebrate the special bond they share. However, this year’s reunion is ruined when a lost and disoriented hunter stumbles upon their camp mumbling about strange lights in the sky. Soon after, horrific creatures begin to emerge and a heavily armed government operative, led by the psychotic Colonel Curtis (Freeman), attempts to take over the area. Challenged to stop this alien force, the friends must confront an unparalleled horror while they take part in an all-out battle to rescue the fate of humanity.

Like many science-fiction horror films before and after it, Dreamcatcher does follow the traditional “alien civilisation threatens the well-being of earthlings” storyline, but unlike most them, the characters who must face the forces of evil are they untypical heroes; Harry for example is on the brink of suicide when we first meet him, Jonesy is almost crippled by the road accident at the start of the film and Duddits, because of his Downs Syndrome has impaired cognitive abilities which affect his speech, movement and how he views the world. While they may also be gifted with supernatural abilities, it is their humanity and their natures as conscious beings which lead them to becoming the heroes in Dreamcatcher. For those reasons alone, Dreamcatcher is worth watching and having if you are drawn to movies which tell and show you a little bit more than your average sci-fi horrors.

The only thing it left me wondering though is how exactly the dreamcatcher relates to the story. Although one is shown briefly in one of the scenes in the cabin, and one is represented in the power that Duddits gives to Pete, it was never really discussed or expanded on. But then after pondering it for some time I realised that the dreamcatcher the title relates to it is not a physical one, but an invisible one which Duddits created when he was a child in order to keep Mr. Gray out whom he knew would come one day and who he would have seen as something like a bad dream, but then again, to have it fully explained kinda takes some of the mystery away, doesn’t it?