Not Allen's best, but still very good (Cassandra's Dream (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Cassandra's Dream (DVD)
Date:	02/09/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cast, tense and suspenseful

Disadvantages: Bleak for Allen

note: also appears in part on The Student Room and Flixster

Woody Allen has been on a bit of a strange path for the last decade or so - he's struggled with a mix of middling works that are pretty hit-and-miss, and so he decided to come to the UK in the early 21st century to try and find some inspiration from our capital. Cassanda's Dream is just one of these efforts, and whilst far from Allen's best, it's still a solid suspense film with a good cast, although Allen fanatics might be a bit surprised at the change of tone from his usual work.

Whilst Allen's films like Scoop dealt with dreary subjects, but with plenty of humour, there's not much to be found in way of laughs here, much like his brilliant film Match Point. Two brothers Terry (Farrell) and Ian (McGregor) are in financial straits - Terry is a gambling addict, whilst Ian is looking to invest in a business proposal - to try and get out of their rut, they turn to their uncle (played with savvy by Tom Wilkinson), who offers to pay them if they will kill a fellow business partner who is going to testify against him and send him to jail. They agree to, and so the house of cards slowly comes tumbling down.

As far as narrative structure goes, Allen has it down to a T as always - this is thoroughly suspensful throughout, and one is never quite sure which way it's going to go. Few watching this will expect a happy outcome, and it's more a case of which way the house of cards is going to fall down more than anything. McGregor, Farrell and Wilkinson are all solid leads in a tense film that doesn't redeem a lot of Allen's most lacklustre efforts of the last few years, but it's a step in the right direction.

A thoroughly engrossing thriller with decent performances throughout. Cassandra's Dream is at times a little contrived, but the portrait of a family at odds is highly intriguing viewing, right up to its volatile climax.

Summary: A compelling look at family straits