There are in fact, a couple of good reasons to watch Dream House. Unfortunately, none of them have anything to do with a great script, particularly good acting or an awesome plot. So before I go into why you should fork out $10 (or however much it is movie tickets cost these days) to see it, you need to be prepared for the fact that this will not be the best movie you’ll be watching this year.
First up – and I wished someone had told me this before I actually stepped into the cinema – Dream House is not a horror movie, despite the impression the movie poster may give. It’s best described as a “suspense thriller”, I suppose.
The premise, however, is promising. Will Atenton (Daniel Craig), a writer, and his family move to a house in the suburbs. His two young daughters see a man looking into the house. That, coupled with a less-than-friendly welcome to the neighbourhood, leads Will to go on an investigation where he finds out that, five years ago, the massacre of a family took place in that very same house. The only survivor – and prime suspect – is the husband/father of the family, Peter Ward.
That’s all I can say about the plot without giving too much away. There’s a startling revelation halfway through the movie that takes it on a whole new trajectory (apparently, the trailer, which I didn’t watch, gave this away. But I’m not about to.) and it’s all downhill from then on. The movie suffers from extremely poor pacing, which I put down to lousy post-production editing. It’s kind of slow-moving at first, and then everything is wrapped up way too quickly at the end in just 10 minutes. But because it wasn’t properly set up (and they had lots of time to do it, I reckon), you’re kinda left scratching your head after.
I really enjoyed Naomi Watts’ performance in 21 Grams and I Heart Huckabees. I mean, she clearly has the acting chops to pull off great roles in both tragic dramas and quirky comedies, which was why I was disappointed that she wasn’t given the chance to display her range in this movie. In Dream House, she plays a sympathetic neighbour who knew the massacred family. She pops into a scene once in awhile, but her character remains flat and undeveloped throughout and it was hard to relate to and root for her later on in the film when it becomes clear why her character’s important to the plot.
That’s not to say that this film is without some measure of redemption. If you’re as big of a gossip-website junkie as I am, you’ll probably know that Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz (who plays his wife in the film) started dating after meeting on the set on this film and got married in June this year. I found myself looking for signs of chemistry between them (they were there).
The other reason you should go watch the movie? Why, for Daniel Craig’s six-pack, of course. There are lots of gratuitous shirtless scenes, including a particularly memorable one where you get a close-up of that glorious washboard abs. Those scenes were as crucial to the plotline as Megan Fox straddling a motorbike in hot pants in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but hey, it made the yawn-fest that was Dream House a lot less painful to sit through.
I’m not the only one of the opinion that this movie, well, sucked. Apparently, Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and director Jim Sheridan hated the final cut of the film so much that they refused to do press promotions or interviews for it. Honestly, I can’t say I blame them. But, I might actually give the film another chance when it comes out on DVD if it’s a director’s cut and I get to watch it as Sheridan meant it. And hey, I’m not going to pass up the chance to ogle that lovely sight that is Daniel Craig’s well-maintained torso.
