 Dreamcatcher (2003) Set mainly in a cabin getaway, the story concerns a group of boyhood friends beset by Alien-like aliens whose spaceship has crashed into the woods, and the shadowy military ops team trying to contain the catastrophe. Overly familiar King themes rear their heads left and right, so even the good parts smack of rehash. The first part of the film is pretty well done, keeping the suspense high and paying off with some nice scares and realistic visuals. But, as with most King stories, the ending completely tanks it, this one boiling down to the world being saved by a retarded man with leukemia … played by Donnie Wahlberg! Jason Lee shows some range, Tom Sizemore is compelling, Morgan Freeman is alternately commanding and ridiculous. Lawrence Kasdan's direction is sharp, but so much of the story is so preposterous, that ultimately there's probably not much he could have done to save the film, except for rewriting almost all of it. Dreamcatcher is far from terrible, but there's clearly a qualitative glass-ceiling for a movie whose climax features a withered New Kid on the Block raising his arms in Special Olympian triumph before vanquishing a giant alien.
Review by Rita Magazine |