Cassandra’s Dream a.k.a. “El Sueño de Cassandra,” “Le Rêve de Cassandre,” “Sogni e delitti,” “Cassandra'nin rüyasi,” “Cassandras Traum,” “To Oneiro tis Kassandras”

This movie was an interesting experience for me. It dragged, at first, and I got tired of the raunch. Nobody was modest, nobody was pure, nobody seemed to believe fornication was wrong. Loose morals everywhere. Then, in a kind of twist, things changed, and the film took on a different feel. The movie seemed to forget it had been about sex and began to become a compelling story of two brothers faced with a difficult dilemma in Britain.

They buy a boat—“Cassandra’s Dream”—and enjoy taking their girls out on it. But the brothers are flawed and have money troubles. In comes well-heeled Uncle Howard, a well-off plastic surgeon in L.A. He’s in trouble, too, but not monetarily. He needs someone bumped off, and he’ll bail out his nephews in exchange for them assassinating the man he hates. It is at this point that the story had my attention. One brother faced this situation with determination—a chance to better his life, the other brother didn’t want to commit murder. It is a tale now of here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The good

• The family really cares about each other, especially the two brothers.
• The brothers want to help their uncle and each other, simply because “its family.”
• One of the brothers, Terry, is guilt ridden, because, as he admits, he broke God’s law. (ah… how wonderful—a conscience!) But the other brother denies that there even IS a god.

The bad

• Many sexual references.
• Ian finds himself a slutty girlfriend who has no problem acting in the nude and doing sex scenes on stage (which we are spared—nicely refreshing!).
• The Name of Jesus Christ is profaned many times in this film.
• A lot of drinking and several instances of drug use.

The ugly

• This is not a “feel good” movie; it become dark and moody.
• Cold-blooded murder is committed.
• This movie is supposedly “a dark comedy,” but it is really a tragedy. I believe you won’t find yourself laughing at anything. Rather, you will be shaking your head at what messes people can get themselves into.

All in all, Woody Allen, who wrote and directed, is a very talented writer. The script is interesting, though I regretted the crude sexual references and the Name of Jesus taken in vain. If you enjoy characterizations, you may enjoy this movie. It is not full of action, comedy, or even romance. If you are prone to “the blues,” I believe you will find this movie depressing.

Violence: Minor / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Minor