From the director of such great films asThe Crying Game (1992), Mona Lisa (1986), The Company of Wolves (1984) & The Good Thief (2003), it seems likely that In Dreams (1999) is Neil Jordan's worst film.

The fine Irish director excessively imitates an American commercial serial killer thriller, which would appear not to be his forte. There is one element of the film that seems authentically Jordan's, & that is all images of the town beneath the lake, brought about by a new dam. The underwater village is haunting & should've been a tremendously cool backdrop for the supernatural, but somehow ends up contributing too little to a poor story.

Annette Benning is Claire, a tediously wincing protagonist who has dream-visions of a serial killer's actions before they occur. The object of fear is played ineptly by Robert Downy, Jr., in homeless-wino drag. The "mystery" element is even more boring than the characters, relying on unconvincing pop-psychology to "explain" the origins of a serial killer in childhood trauma.

The film might've been slightly shocking if it had been subtler, but it just continuously shouts out, "Isn't this shocking!" to which the answer is in general, uhm, no, actually it's ridiculous. If I hadn't seen it with my own displeased eyes, I wouldn't've thought it possible for Jordan to make a film this awful.

copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl