In Dreams (1999)

A suburban housewife learns that she has a dreamworld connection to a serial murderer, and must stop him from killing again.

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writers:

Bari Wood (novel), Bruce Robinson (screenplay)

Stars:

Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., Katie Sagona

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Annette Bening	...	Claire Cooper
Katie Sagona	...	Rebecca Cooper
Aidan Quinn	...	Paul Cooper
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Vivian Thompson
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Detective Jack Kay
Kathleen Langlois	...	Snow White
Jennifer Berry	...	Hunter
Emma J. Brown	...	Dwarf
Jennifer Dragon	...	Dwarf
Samantha Kelly	...	Dwarf
Jennifer Caine Natenshon	...	Dwarf
Bethany M. Paquin	...	Dwarf
Erica Sullivan	...	Dwarf
Amelia Claire Novotny	...	Prince
Kristin Sroka	...	Wicked Stepmother

Storyline

The housewife Claire Cooper is married with the pilot Paul Cooper and their little daughter Rebecca is their pride and joy. When a stranger kidnaps a girl, Claire dreams about the man but Detective Jack Kay ignores her concerns. But when Rebecca disappears during a school play, Claire learns that her visions were actually premonitions and she is connected to the killer through her dreams. She has a nervous breakdown and tries to commit suicide. Her psychologist Dr. Silverman sends her to a mental institution and soon she finds that her husband will be the next victim of the serial-killer. Further, the serial-killer was interned in the same cell in the hospital where she is. Will Claire be able to save Paul?

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Plot Keywords:

dream | serial killer | mental institution | school play | two word title | 

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Taglines:

You don't have to sleep to dream

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence/terror and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blue Vision

Filming Locations:

Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,593,872, 17 January 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$12,017,369

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment,DreamWorks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The mental institution scenes were filmed at the Northampton State Hospital, an actual asylum in Northampton, Massachusetts, which was abandoned at the time.

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Goofs

During sentencing, the judge tells Vivian "the State of Massachusetts has declared you insane," thus making him ineligible for the death penalty. In legal parlance, Massachusetts is always referred to as a Commonwealth, and does not practice the death penalty.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Claire: [Helping daughter rehearse lines from Snow White while walking through trees by lake]
[In sing-song voice]
Claire: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of us all?
Rebecca Cooper: [Skipping through trees by lake]
[In sing-song voice]
Rebecca Cooper: You're the fairest in this hall but Snow WHITE is THE...
Claire: [laughs] Come on Rebecca, forget it's a play. Just, say it like you're saying it to me.
Rebecca Cooper: [sing-song voice] Snow White's the fairest of them all.
Claire: And again.
[...]

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Connections

Featured in The Last Days of the Board (1999)

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Soundtracks

DON'T SIT UNDER THE APPLE TREE
Written by Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept and Charles Tobias
Performed by The Andrews Sisters
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Great first half, formulaic, ordinary second half

The first hour or so of this movie is great. It is interesting, good-viewing and imaginative.

It's a pity that after the hour mark the film looses so much effectiveness as it becomes ordinary and predictable. It's a shame that a little of the imagination shown in the first part of the film was not evident towards the end.

The film is 8/10 for the first hour, 5/10 for the rest. I feel it deserves 6/10 in total.