Sam Mendes' made this film as a love letter to the movies. He almost succeeds in this, since Dreamland in Margate, with its magnificent cinema, ballroom and sweeping sea views is a visual treat. It's just that the people who inhabit this dreamlike landscape are flawed human beings, and the plot of this movie is just too ambitious and scattered.
The actors are gifted, particularly Olivia Colman who plays the central character Hilary. She has mental issues, and is preyed upon by the Cinema Manager (a sullen Colin Firth). Her relationship with a new recruit, a young black man, gives her a new outlook and at the same time, she begins to take a new look at her life and surroundings. This sounds like a simple plot but so many issues intrude and it isn't helped by endless poetic quotes which would have been fine in the West End or even in one of Margate's quirky little theatres, but somehow feels wrong in Dreamland.
I was even somewhat bored at times, and I am a Margate resident. But the town looks great and its regeneration will surely be helped by this film.
The actors are gifted, particularly Olivia Colman who plays the central character Hilary. She has mental issues, and is preyed upon by the Cinema Manager (a sullen Colin Firth). Her relationship with a new recruit, a young black man, gives her a new outlook and at the same time, she begins to take a new look at her life and surroundings. This sounds like a simple plot but so many issues intrude and it isn't helped by endless poetic quotes which would have been fine in the West End or even in one of Margate's quirky little theatres, but somehow feels wrong in Dreamland.
I was even somewhat bored at times, and I am a Margate resident. But the town looks great and its regeneration will surely be helped by this film.