CASSANDRA’S DREAM
RYAN: Woody Allen’s 2007 offering is “Cassandra’s Dream,” starring my Hollywood husband, Ewan McGregor.
CAROLINE: And Colin Farrell as his brother. It’s nice to see him on the big screen again. We haven’t seen him in anything since “Miami Vice.” Welcome back to Hollywood, Colin.
RYAN: They had great onscreen chemistry as brothers. Colin had some really tough, emotional scenes, and he really impressed me. But I have to say; this movie gave me everything I wanted of Ewan. It had him singing, taking off his shirt, making out and more.
CAROLINE: This movie was kind of a shock to me since I really didn’t know much about it. I had heard it was more “Match Point” than “Scoop,” and wow is that true. It’s a very dramatic, heavy film, and I dug it. Certainly more than I liked “Match Point.”
RYAN: I really liked it too but I’m biased because of Ewan. Honestly, it’s a little slow in parts and definitely too long.
CAROLINE: They could have cut out a few minutes. At one point I leaned over to you and said, “I think we’re about to reach the dénouement,” but then there was like 30 more minutes of the movie.
RYAN: But there’s great tension in the film, and Tom Wilkinson has a small part and he’s so good.
CAROLINE: It was nice to hear him speaking in his natural British accent.
RYAN: And the actress who plays Ma Costa in “The Golden Compass” plays Colin and Ewan’s mom. I love her in both movies.
CAROLINE: The two girls who play Colin and Ewan’s girlfriends are both great too. One is a working class British chick with a crazy accent, and I think I had a little bit of a girl crush on the other one. She plays an actress and she’s kind of sultry.
RYAN: There was way too much smoking in this movie though. Did you notice? It made me want to cough.
CAROLINE: Woody must have finished directing it before that mandatory NC-17 rating for movies with smoking in them was announced. Bottom line?
RYAN: This is a movie typical of Woody Allen with its music and pacing. If you’re a fan of his work, I think you’ll really like it. It’s not his best; it’s not his worst. I’d recommend it as a drama/thriller.
CAROLINE: I definitely thought it was too long. I’m used to Woody Allen movies being about 90 minutes and this one is more like 110. I enjoyed it though, and I especially thought Colin Farrell did some amazing acting. If you’ve already seen all the big gun Oscar contenders, this is a good alternative for January.