Quick: WhatB次元官网网址檚 a good adjective for Nicolas CageB次元官网网址檚 screen presence? Mercurial, perhaps? Volcanic? Volatile?
How about mundane, schlubby, average? Not the page weB次元官网网址檇 think to turn to in our RogetB次元官网网址檚 Thesaurus.
Yet here Cage is, channeling his inner drabness to chillingly comic effect in Kristoffer BorgliB次元官网网址檚 As Paul Matthews (heck, even the name is drab), a college professor at nowhere famous, he performs his job with perfect mediocrity, and seems a fairly mediocre husband and dad, too. With his graying beard, wire-rimmed specs and shiny bald spot, CageB次元官网网址檚 Paul is the guy in the room you ignore.
Until, suddenly, you canB次元官网网址檛. Because something weird starts happening. Paul starts appearing in peopleB次元官网网址檚 dreams. EveryoneB次元官网网址檚 dreams.
The premise is delicious B次元官网网址� and precarious. It recalled for me the setup in a very different movie, B次元官网网址淵esterday,B次元官网网址� where only one guy on Earth remembers the Beatles. It makes for a fantastic beginning, but you immediately worry how theyB次元官网网址檒l manage to keep it going.
But Borgli, the Norwegian writer-director making his English-language debut here (Ari Aster co-produces), is aiming for a broader statement about the nature of fame. And while the topic, which heB次元官网网址檚 broached before, may not be original, itB次元官网网址檚 ripe for exploration in the right hands B次元官网网址� especially with an actor as inventive and unpredictable as Cage. Fame can be intoxicating, this film is saying, but it can and probably will turn on you in an instant, unless youB次元官网网址檙e Taylor Swift (OK, we added that last part).
We begin on an autumn day by a suburban swimming pool, where Paul is raking leaves near his teen daughter. Scary things start dropping from the heavens, and suddenly the girl is grabbed by an unknown force and lifted, screaming, into the sky. Dad? He does nothing to help.
ItB次元官网网址檚 only the girlB次元官网网址檚 dream. But then there are more. Paul and his patient wife, Janet (Julianne Nicholson, reliably excellent) run into someone at the theater, and she too has dreamed about Paul. At a dinner party, several guests discover to their shock that theyB次元官网网址檝e been dreaming about the same person. Yep, Paul.
WhatB次元官网网址檚 happening? On campus, PaulB次元官网网址檚 students, who mostly chat among themselves during his unremarkable lectures on evolutionary biology, start listening B次元官网网址� theyB次元官网网址檙e dreaming about him, too.
In many of these dreams, Paul stands by, inexplicably, as others experience peril B次元官网网址� slithering alligators, for example. But in real life, for once, Paul has the floor B次元官网网址� a man who until now seethed with frustration over his unrealized ambitions as others succeeded. Now, everyone is interested in him.
Borgli never stops to analyze the science of this bizarre development, and frankly, Paul doesnB次元官网网址檛 either. He takes a meeting with a snarky group of branding experts (led by Michael Cera, perfectly cast) who want to market him up the wazoo. They can get him a Sprite commercial! Well, Paul doesnB次元官网网址檛 want that B次元官网网址� he just wants a book deal for his biology research. But his ears perk up at the idea of an endorsement from Barack Obama. (B次元官网网址淚 know Malia,B次元官网网址� one of these young professionals says.)
One young woman even lets on to Paul that in her dreams, the two have great sex. This is too stunning for the schlubby Paul to ignore, especially when she invites him home to recreate the dream. Needless to say, it doesnB次元官网网址檛 go as well in real life. In fact, the d茅noument is utterly, agonizingly humiliating.
And then, everyoneB次元官网网址檚 dreams change. Suddenly Paul is the one causing harm. His students, terrified, donB次元官网网址檛 want to see him anymore. He gets sent home from a dinner with friends. He canB次元官网网址檛 even sit in a coffee shop and read a book without a fellow diner spitting on his food.
As for the branding consultants, well, they inform Paul that Obama is off the table B次元官网网址� but hey, they could get him time with Joe Rogan or maybe Tucker Carlson.
We wonB次元官网网址檛 spoil the ending, but letB次元官网网址檚 just make the obvious point that Borgli is not making a rom-com B次元官网网址� is there a word for B次元官网网址渉orror-comB次元官网网址�? We walk away from this funny, sad, scary film acutely reminded that if fame has two sides, one of them is pretty darned horrible.
And perhaps, as you walk home from the multiplex this time, you might even revel in the fact that nobodyB次元官网网址檚 paying attention. Obscurity can be underrated.
B次元官网网址淒ream Scenario,B次元官网网址� an A24 release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association B次元官网网址渇or language, violence and some sexual content. B次元官网网址� Running time: 102 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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