Dream Catcher (2003)

Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan | 136 minutes | science fiction, horror, thriller | Actors: Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore, Donnie Wahlberg, Mikey Holekamp, ​​Reece Thompson, Giacomo Baessato, Joel Palmer, Andrew Robb, Eric Keenleyside, Rosemary Dunsmore, Michael O’Neill, Darrin Klimek, Campbell Lane, C. Ernst Harth, Ingrid Kavelaars, Chera Bailey, Alex Campbell, TJ Riley, Ryan DeBoer, Susan Charest, Ty Olsson, Michael Daingerfield, Kevan Ohtsji, Marcy Goldberg, Dion Johnstone, Shauna Kain, Colin Lawrence, Malik McCall, Jordan Walker, Jon Kasdan

Dreamcatcher is a film adaptation of the book of the same name by horror master Stephen King. There are very good film adaptations of King’s work such as ‘The Shining’ (1980), ‘Misery’ (1990), ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994) and ‘The Green Mile’ (1999), but also bad ones and there are ‘Needful Things’ (1993) and also ‘Dreamcatcher’ at. Now ‘Dreamcatcher’ isn’t King’s best story, but it could have been a lot better with the movie. Typical of King is how childhood events can spill over into the adult lives of those involved.

The movie starts off promisingly, four childhood friends Henry (Thomas Jane), Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Beaver (Jason Lee), and Pete (Timothy Olyphant) once rescued a very special boy named Duddits from a bunch of bad guys. They become friends for life and in return Duddits blesses the boys with special powers as they each touch a dreamcatcher or dreamcatcher. These powers and Duddits will play an important role in the future.

The now grown friends take a lost hiker to their cabin during their annual gathering in the woods of Maine. A blizzard is raging, all the animals seem to flee the forest. The walker also appears to exhibit all kinds of strange behavior such as incessant belching and letting go of the wind. It turns out not to be the blueberries, the hiker carries a parasite with him. Stephen King wrote “Dreamcatcher” while recovering from a serious accident. King wanted to make the bathroom scary for people again. This resulted in the grossest toilet scene in movie history where the parasite leaves the walker’s body (and how!). Director Kasdan of ‘Body Heat’ (1981) and ‘Wyatt Earp’ (1994) stayed close to the original story. The parasite or virus that spreads quickly (also among the friends) is called Ripley, a reference to ‘Alien’ (1979). The army under Colonel Curtis (Morgan Freeman) is mobilized and the surrounding area is quarantined. The maniacal Colonel Curtis has been fighting these aliens for years and wants to blow things up.

Kasdan and co-screenwriter William Goldman of ‘Misery’ (1990) and ‘Hearts in Atlanti’s (2001) have lost track after this good start. The bulky book could of course not be made into a film in its entirety, but the deletion and finishing could have been done better. Important characters are insufficiently explored so that no one manages to touch the viewer. The one-liners of Beaver (Jason Lee) are occasionally funny. It’s a waste of his talents that Morgan Freeman lent himself to this project. He comes off poorly with weak lyrics and a one-dimensional and aimless character. The same goes for Tom Sizemore. The special effects also leave a lot to be desired. The level of acting is also not high. What has been filmed is the memory warehouse (memory archive) where Jonesy tries to keep the alien out. The title ‘Dreamcatcher’ is insufficiently explained in the film.

The film builds up some tension in the beginning but then it goes downhill very quickly to a disappointing finale. The ending, the confrontation between Mr. Gray and Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), feels rushed. The makers of the film also had a different destiny in mind for Duddits than in the book. ‘Dreamcatcher’ is never really scary or exciting, it is rancid. It is mainly the filth that stays with you after seeing the film. The makers shouldn’t have let many characters take themselves so seriously. Shame about all the potential in this plot.