If you are not a fan of Woody Allen's, this film is for you! Cassandra's Dream, written and directed by Woody Allen in 2007 does not, even once, look, sound, or give the vibe of a Woody Allen film. I'm not saying anything that is supposed to resemble "You're not a "true" Woody Allen fan if you like Cassandra's Dream. Of course, there are Woody Allen fans that enjoyed it; I'm simply suggesting that there's something here even for those that don't appreciate Woody's work. I am not a fan of this point in Woody's career where he seemed to be preoccupied with murder and getting away with it. Cassandra's Dream found a pair of brothers who were always experiencing financial woes decide to turn to crime to gain fortune. The problem is, the crime life resulted in them turning against each other.There's a lot I like about Woody Allen films, but my favorite part is consistently the script. I don't know what happened with Cassandra's Dream, but that Woody-like perfect script was absent. The film was oddly cast and absent a score that Woody typically so carefully constructs. Usually, I can find something redeeming in a Woody Allen film, something that I can lean on as positive even in one of his films I didn't care for--I struggle with Cassandra's Dream, however; it was one of the films I blind bought to meet this month's film project so I have plenty of time to change my mind on it.

"Cassandra's Dream" reminds me of those one-off stories we used to get on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Over time, Woody Allen has come up with more than one drama in the vein of Hitchcock or Polanski."Cassandra's Dream" came out shortly after "Match Point" and had a similar vibe with luck, fate and a touch of Dostoyevsky playing a part. It was also in Woody's British phase - the heavy-handed "Scoop" separated the two. Mind you, it's not as good as "Match Point". Woody tried some of the same twists, but they weren't as fresh this time around - and it's hard to beat a film that had Scarlett Johansson in that kind of form.However "Cassandra's Dream" isn't as bad as some critics would have us believe.Brothers Terry and Ian, played by Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, are a couple of lads who are full of schemes and live beyond their means. They buy Cassandra's Dream, a yacht they can't afford. Their financial situation is further depressed when Terry incurs some potentially fatal gambling debts and Ian falls for a high maintenance actress. They need money and lots of it. They turn to rich Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson). However he asks for an unexpected service in return: the termination with extreme prejudice of a rival. One thing leads to another and eventually even the close brotherly bond between Terry and Ian becomes compromised.The ending is a bit of a downer. Maybe Woody wasn't seeing any silver linings at the time. "Match Point" was saved because we were put in the position of identifying with a totally self-serving character who gets away with it. "Cassandra's Dream" on the other hand forces us to identify with a couple of losers who don't get away with anything.Farrell and McGregor play well off each other and there are beautifully observed characters throughout the film. Familiar British actors add a touch of quality: Jim Carter as Terry's boss, John Benfield as the Dad and Phil Davis as the man Uncle Howard wants out of the way.The script lacks the sizzle of "Match Point" or "Blue Jasmine"; we wait for the insights, but they are few and far between. However Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor make "Cassandra's Dream" watchable - even if it is just once.

Ten years after it was made, I tracked this film down on Amazon. It never got much of a release in the UK and, as far as I know, it has never been shown on television. I'm not surprised. It is even worse than Woody Allen's other two British ventures: Match Point and Scoop. Everything I said about those two films applies in spades to Cassandra's dream: implausible plot, terrible dialogue and wooden acting. It employs a large number of fine British actors. I can only imagine how thrilled they were at being invited to appear in a film by the great Woody Allen and how shattered were their illusions after they had read the script. It was like a 1950's British second feature. Surprisingly, it lasts for 148 interminable minutes. Woody usually confines himself to a snappy 90 minutes. The kindest thing I can say about this film was that I never would have recognised that it was a Woody Allen film. There are a large number of 1 star reviews for this film on IMDb, most of them saying more or less what I have written here so there is not really anything else that I can usefully add.

I had recently talked to a friend about how much we both enjoyed "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", and she labeled that film as "an explosion of feelings". I instantly agreed with that, and while I was watching "Cassandra's Dream", that's all that came in my mind: an explosion of feelings. McGregor and Farrell professionally portray two brothers that commit a murder in order to help their uncle, and as tough as it can be, one of them starts having mental problems because of it. The relationship between the brothers is extremely convincing, mainly due to the great directing that Woody Allen provides, again. It feels hard not to put ourselves in the positions of Ian and Terry; it was undoubtedly a quite hard situation to deal with. The first hour of the movie is full of conversations, and it tired me a bit, but once the brothers get in the victim's house, I felt like SCREAMING for such an intense first climax-- in my opinion, there are two of them. The only thing I really disliked about this film was the rushed ending, and I'm sure many people really hated it, but that's an eccentric way to end the story. We don't always need to see all that happens next; sometimes it's good to leave up to the spectator what is the next step. All in all, "Cassandra's Dream" is another GREAT work from Woody Allen, and you can realize that after the first hour of length.