IMDb > Lathe of Heaven (2002) (TV)

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Lathe of Heaven (2002) -- hv post
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Overview

User Rating:
5.8/10   605 votes
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Director:
Philip Haas
Writers (WGA):
Ursula K. Le Guin (novel)
Alan Sharp (teleplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Lathe of Heaven on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 September 2002 (USA) more
Genre:
Sci-Fi more
Tagline:
His dreams control our destiny, but who controls his dreams.
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 nomination more
User Comments:
I didn't exactly hate it, but this will never be a classic more (56 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

James Caan ... Dr. William Haber

Lukas Haas ... George Orr

Lisa Bonet ... Heather Lelache

David Strathairn ... Mannie
Sheila McCarthy ... Penny

Serge Houde ... Judge
Suzanne Desautels ... Lelache's Secretary
Belinda Hum ... Mrs. Nakumisi
Tetsuro Shigematsu ... Mr. Nakumisi

Jonathan Higgins ... Medic
Danny Blanco ... Security Officer (as Danny Blanco-Hall)

Conrad Pla ... Search Man #1
Daniel Do ... Waker / Host
Daniel Pilon ... President Murtle

Steve Adams ... Game Show Host
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
USA:90 min | USA:91 min
Country:
Canada | USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Certification:
Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Montréal, Québec, Canada
Company:
A&E Television Networks more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Bruce Davison, who played George Orr in the 1980 teleplay, acted as executive producer on the 2002 remake. more
Movie Connections:
Remake of The Lathe of Heaven (1980) (TV) more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful.
I didn't exactly hate it, but this will never be a classic, 9 September 2002
Author: Phlicker- from Phlorida

This new adaptation of Ursula K. Leguin's "The Lathe of Heaven" takes a very different approach from the classic 1980 version we all know and love. It spends little time exploring the speculative side of this good-intentions-gone-wrong fable it. It's no longer a mind-boggling array of multiplying realities with each solution to humanities ills worse than the original problems. This version hews closely to the human side of the situation and essentially becomes a romantic fantasy. In this respect "Lathe of Heaven" (this is, fittingly, not "the" lathe of heaven) has heart to spare. Unfortunately, it also has time to waste.

To emphasize the relationship(s) between George and Heather, half of the book has been discarded. George Orr's dilemma is still that his dreams change reality (and not usually for the better) -- and he's the only one who knows it. Placed into treatment with Dr. Haber (a very subtly understated James Caan), George becomes the unwilling instrument to fulfill the doctors best wishes for society. But the "solutions" that George dreams have unintended consequences. In both the novel and the original adaptation, this was our ticket to ride on a roller coaster of human hopes and dreams gone astray, a festival of ideas. But few of these funny and frightening episodes are depicted in this new version. Stealing even more time from the original material is the very threadbare idea of Dr. Haber's secretary, Penny, and her unrequited love for the doctor.

Now (as we did in the book) we watch George and Heather fall in love. Lukas Haas and Lisa Bonet fill the roles ably. But because almost the whole platform of the drama has been removed, we don't really ever know what's at stake for them. George's ability to change reality somehow becomes almost irrelevant. And because this version removes the book's (and the original movie's) final irony -- the very thing that makes George's dreams so crucial (I won't reveal it here) -- the story is deprived of its real kick.

Yet just takes as a weird tale with a romantic payoff, the movie still provides some entertainment. You wouldn't actually regret watching it. What you might regret is Angelo Badalamenti's overloud, overinsistent and only sporadically effective score (most of which seems to have been directly lifted from "Twin Peaks").

So what we have here is a towering classic of speculative fiction reduced to a somewhat engaging episode of "Amazing Stories." And on its own modest terms, it works. But this fiction will never develop the devoted following that the original version had (and has). Mind you, I'm not dismissing this version because it's a remake. I would have welcomed a new and mature treatment of this material. But the creators of this version decided to walk away from the challenges the material posed -- unlike those who made the 1980 version, who stepped right up to the plate and knocked it out of the park.

It's worth noting, by the way, that the original version was shot on a budget of next to nothing yet never looked cheesy. This version looks like it was shot for less than nothing, borrows freely from "Blade Runner" and looks like it was filmed on cardboard. The original's climactic clash of competing realities is here reduced to what looks like a mere street riot.

Still, I didn't hate it.

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Soundtrack? ady2002
remake deepaliblue
A little confused... (Spoiler!!!) SkipStar29
Not as bad as reviews would lead you to believe!!! bawko
regular adaptation buhoblanco
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