I’m sure you have movies you can’t re-watch, even if you loved them the first time, mainly because they’re just too gut wrenchingly emotional. A few of mine are: Blu Valentine, Saving Private Ryan, Manchester By the Sea and Love & Mercy. The last two share involvement with director Bill Pohland who wrote and directed the new Dreamin’ Wild.
Unfortunately, Bill should stick to directing. He’s done masterpieces, but Dreamin’ Wild is a storied mess.
Here’s my script doctor prescription:
Dear Bill,
If you’re going to hint at impactful trauma, follow through and show me what it was. Don’t lead me on with closed creepy doors with light coming through the bottom and suspenseful music, then a scene with broken glass, then a hint of a heroin addiction and one line much later about a death. Even if you simply reveal to me later on that Casey Affleck’s character’s 90 minute brooding (of which he’s a master of, Humphrey Bogart level brooding) suffers from autism, paranoid personality, bi-polar narcissism, ANYTHING to justify all the foreshadowing). Channeling Steve Martin now: “But NOOOOOOO,” nothing natta zippo. More of an oops sorry this happened and by the way, all that stuff I yelled I didn’t mean….to which my response was HUH?
Oddest of all, I only saw one or two brave Rotten Tomatoes critics actually pan it. Maybe they forgave due to Beau Bridges or Chris Messina or Zoey Deschanel or the actor who truly stole the movie Walton Goggins who I truly believed as a man suffering a lonely existence. Noah Jupe once again fantastic young actor in Honey Boy, is given a chintz role where he gets to do very little acting.
So better luck next time Bill, and please let someone else write the script.
Dreamin’ Wild, Sleepy Tame
