This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
See You In My Dreams
Plot Overview
Sophie (Lily Bird) is at
that age when some troubled children are associated with
displays of psychokinesis as when pots & pans go banging
around on their own in the night. In her case, in the opening scene,
random objects come crashing down around her on the patio while her
father Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is placidly raking leaves in the
background. But it's only a dream.
One day
in line at a restaurant he trips the recall of a total stranger, black
hostess Avery (Liz Adjei,) before he meets with a colleague Sheila Harper
(Paula Boudreau) who may have publisher connections. Prof. Matthews is a tenured evolutionary
biology professor at Osler University. He has aspirations of someday
writing a book on ant colonies. Later after attending the theater
with his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson), he bumps into a journalist
ex-girlfriend Claire (Marnie McPhail Diamond) who claims she
dreamed of him. Others seem to recognize him from their dreams, too.
With his permission Claire posts this phenomenon to her blog that gets linked to his social page
and it spreads far and wide.
Attendance picks up in his lecture hall,
but I can't say the students are any more focused than before. When
the dreams of him turn to vicious nightmares, attendance tanks,
he's deserted by his friends, and he is professionally blackballed.
It affects his wife's career and she kicks him out of the house. He
now has time to work on his book. He finds himself exiled to
France where they have funny ideas about him.
Ideology
In that first slew of dreams, he's a passive presence except in the case of a businessman's assistant Molly (Dylan Gelula) who has erotic encounters with him. In the interests of "science," they decide to duplicate one of them in her apartment, he being free to stop at any time. Nature puts a stop to it when he can't control his ejection.
His friend the dean Brett (Tim Meadows) has marvelous self-control along the lines of a character described by author John Fowles: “Dangerous isn't the word—but someone … very self-controlled. A tiny bit obsessional? I mean someone who wouldn't be easily stopped if he'd argued himself into something” (227). The dean knows full well that Paul isn't responsible for what other people dream about him and that he has done nothing wrong, but he muddies the water by forcing him to take a leave of absence. Furthermore, when Paul having been kicked out of his own house needs a place to stay, his friend puts him up but in the dingy basement not the living room couch more conducive to sleep. The dean has set his course and sticks to it through determined self-control notwithstanding knowing his friend is being slighted in the process.
Something similar happened in the Bible when
the apostle Paul was mobbed by the Jews in Jerusalem for preaching
the resurrection of the dead, which didn't set well with them. A troop
of soldiers rescued Paul and spirited him away to be investigated
by the governor Felix for that disturbance of the pax Romana (peace of Rome.) Felix
found Paul had done nothing amiss, it was no concern of his the
particulars of Jewish beliefs. But rather than set Paul free outright
he kept him under house arrest.
(Acts 24:23-26) “And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.”
It was intemperate of Felix to keep Paul under guard just as it was for Brett to consign his Paul to the basement. Just so we're on the same page regarding temperance, let's examine a quote from Patrick Gale's short story, Wig:
“Scrabble
was one of the few pastimes at which her husband seemed dim beside
her. … in private she knew it maddened him. She learned early
on in their relationship to temper her glee at triumphing over
him” (7).
To temper is the verb form for to moderate. Temperate is adjectival as, for example, we live in a temperate zone, neither too hot nor too cold, Temperance is the noun form of moderation. They all derive from the same Latin word temperare meaning to moderate, be moderate. It was what Paul and Paul wanted. It was denied them through the iron willed self-control of authorities who had other ideas though they knew better.
I've been noticing that modernized, Protestant, English Bibles have been substituting self-control for temperance, which is a malapropism. It can mean the opposite of the other as it does above, depending on the circumstance. Paul didn't want Felix to be more self-controlled in his set course but to temper his sentence to time served. That, we gather, is one of the reasons he was preaching temperance.
One Paul ended up in Rome and the other in France. History repeats itself, or as the French say, Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they remain the same.)
Production Values
“” (2023) was written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli. It stars Dylan Baker, Nicolas Cage and Julianne Nicholson. It also featured Kate Berlant as Mary, David Klein as Andy, Noah Lamanna as Jessie, Nicholas Braun as Brian Berg, Amber Midthunder as Haley, Al Warren as Chris, Maev Beaty as Naomi, Kaleb Horn as Miles, Ben Caldwell as Eli, Agape Mngomezulu as Robbie, and Sofia Banzhaf as Leah. Cage is funny as well as edgy, and Nicholson held up her part as his wife supportive to a point. The cast believably formed an insular university community.
MPAA rated it R for language, violence and some sexual content. It was filmed on location in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Runtime is 1¾ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
The plot settles down at the end with a scientific discovery that enhances sleep. When I installed a dream catcher by my bed, my jumpy nightmares stopped, but I can't say whether it was coincidence, power of suggestion, or something else entirely. I'm happy for scientific advances, but whether or not this movie's contribution will be one of them is hard to say. Meek Paul here reminds one of another historical Paul beset by controversy. This was an interesting movie, not the usual fare for the star. It's enjoyable on a number of levels.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Fowles, John. The Ebony Tower. Copyright © 1974 by J.R. Fowles Limited. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974. First Edition. Print.
Gale, Patrick. Dangerous Pleasures. London: HarperCollins Pub., 1996. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org