There can sometimes be a significant gap between a great high concept for a movie and that concept’s execution. Such is the case with Dream Scenario, the English-language debut from Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli. The concept? An unremarkable biology professor named Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) inexplicably begins appearing in thousands of strangers’ dreams all around the globe, turning him into an instant, eerie celebrity. Cage is wonderful—he gives another sad-clown performance in the range of his underrated turn in The Weather Man, while getting to indulge in Cagier flourishes in the dream sequences—and the first third or so of the film has an inventive, oddball energy. But Borgli doesn’t quite seem sure where to go from there, veering between half-baked character study (especially as fame exacerbates Paul’s personal foibles and destabilizes his relationship with his wife, played by Julianne Nicholson) and unclear social commentary (there’s a subplot about a supposedly savvy influencer agency, led by Michael Cera, looking to capitalize on Paul’s notoriety). Eventually Dream Scenario swerves into some speculative science fiction that seems pulled from another film altogether. Borgli also served as editor and there is something strange going on there, as well—flashes of earlier moments dropped into later scenes, jump cuts chopping up other sequences. I’m not sure if it’s clumsy experimentation or part of a grander scheme that I couldn’t tease out. If it’s meant to suggest that this is all supposed to be Paul’s dream, then the movie is even more of a miss than I thought.
(12/10/2023)
