Dream a Little Dream (1989)

An accident puts the consciousness of an elderly dream researcher into the body of a bratty teenager. The problem? The kid prefers dreamworld limbo to real life.

Director:

Marc Rocco

Writers:

Daniel Jay Franklin (story), Daniel Jay Franklin (screenplay)

Stars:

Corey Feldman, Jason Robards, Piper Laurie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Robards	...	Coleman Ettinger
Corey Feldman	...	Bobby Keller / Coleman Ettinger
Piper Laurie	...	Gena Ettinger
Meredith Salenger	...	Lainie Diamond
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Ike Baker
Corey Haim	...	Dinger
Susan Blakely	...	Cherry Diamond
William McNamara	...	Joel
Matt Adler	...	Dumas
Victoria Jackson	...	Kit Keller
Alex Rocco	...	Gus Keller
Ria Pavia	...	Maureen
Lala Sloatman	...	Shelley (as Lala)
Laura Lee Norton	...	Marge
John Ward	...	Derek

Storyline

The lives of a crusty old scientist and a bratty, teen Michael-Jackson-wannabe are about to intersect in a paranormal way. Coleman Ettinger seeks to break down the door of reality through studied dreaming; Bobby Keller wants Lainie Diamond, the girlfriend of his high school friend Joel, a handsome school jock. As Coleman persuades his wife Gena to join his experiments, an accident knocks their bodies out of existence, along with Bobby's consciousness. Coleman's consciousness winds up in Bobby's body while Gena's ends up buried and asleep inside Lainie's. Only when sleeping can Coleman contact Bobby and elicit his help in putting things back, except that Bobby smugly prefers limbo over his aggravated life as a modern teenager.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to freddy krueger | cult film | shortcut | messy room | blackboard | 

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Taglines:

With dreams like these who needs reality?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Long Before Tomorrow

Filming Locations:

New Hanover High School - 1307 Market Street, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,830,000, 5 March 1989, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,552,441

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lightning Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of a late 1980s mini-cycle of age-swap / body-swap pictures. The movies included Big (1988), 18 Again! (1988), Vice Versa (1988), Dream a Little Dream (1989), and Like Father Like Son (1987).

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Goofs

Bobby's movements as he watches Lainie dance in the gym don't match the movements of his image in the mirror.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bobby Keller: Dinger! Dinger, wake up for a minute. I gotta talk to you, Buddy.
Dinger: Bobby, I'm asleep. I'm sound asleep, Bobby. I'm dreaming. Apache women. Mai-taih's. Vannah White and a whip.
Bobby Keller: I'm in love.
Dinger: That could be a problem.
Bobby Keller: I don't think you understand.
Dinger: No, no, I do understand. I really do. Which hand is it this week PAL?

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Connections

References The Lost Boys (1987)

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Soundtracks

Dress to Kill
Written by John William Dexter and Steve Plunkett
Produced by John William Dexter
Performed by Steve Plunkett (as Steve 'Plunk' Plunkett)

User Reviews

A dream to remember!

Before I begin commenting, I would like to point out that this film was a very hard find. It took the video store my brother works at a week to get it, and it was well worth the wait!Now, with that out of the way, here's my review.

Bizarre dream sequences are only a small part of this fabulous fantasy comedy starring Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Jason Robards, Piper Laurie, and Meredith Salenger.

Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman) lives his life day to day, as he puts it. He is failing all his classes, his parents don't talk to him, and he is head over heels in love with Lainie (Meredith Salenger), although he dates Shelly. But, an accident involving Bobby and Lainie and Coleman and Geena (Jason Robards and Piper Laurie) causes Coleman to take over Bobby's mind and body, and part of Geena's mind takes over Lainie. Now, Coleman has to find a way to switch back and get his wife back. But, Bobby isn't so willing to, unless Coleman can correct his screwed-up existance, while helping him to get Lainie.

Fave scenes:The opening scene intercut with the opening credits involving Bobby and Dinger (Corey Haim) talking about Bobby's infatuation with Lainie, as well as singing the blues and why Dinger's leg was broken (reason: his mom ran him over with her Volvo), the accident scene, the dream sequences, the scene where Bobby discovers that he's Coleman, and when they were having a hard time going to sleep, the scene in the gym when they were dancing to the rock version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me", and the closing credits with Bobby and Coleman dancing to the same song. I guess you can say that I enjoyed EVERYTHING!!

This was a wonderfully romantic movie with an original plot. It was adorable, and Corey Feldman was kinda cute,despite the Michael Jackson look, something he was into for a few years. The Dream sequences wre really interesting, filmed in a strange blue tint. The movie also had an interesting plot, and great music (especially Frank Sinatra's "Young at Heart" and both versions on "Dream a Little Dream of Me."). I highly recommend it to anyone who likes the two Coreys, good acting, creativity, or body switching movies. I'm a little disappointed that some people did not care for it too much, because it was wonderful and mysterious, and very cute (I can't stress that enough.)

This is one dream you'll truly want to remember!:)