Cassandra's dream


Woody gives himself another treat.



No other director can beat Woody Allen's possibilities of doing whatever he wants on screen. His stories continue selling, all the actors he wants to use will say yes without even reading the script, so he keeps filming in whichever country he chooses and doing one film per year.


By using his particular modus operandi he has produced some of the most beautiful, human and entertaining films of the last century. Still, out of such a matchless wealth of production, (and since, unsurprisingly, most of what we all do is not as good as our best) most of them turn out to be average productions. I personally don't think it has to do with Allen's age, but rather with his seemingly endless energy for film making. In fact, although unquestionable gems such as Annie Hall or Manhattan belong to his universe of past productions, the more relatively recent Deconstructing Harry is to me the most enjoyable of his extensive filmography. In any case, Cassandra's dream is to be counted as one of those poorer films which, unlike the above, won't resist the passage of time.



This time Allen treats himself to the nearly ubiquitous and always charming Ewan McGregor. Unfortunately, his looks are not enough in this occasion and, except for a few moments more purely entertaining than remarkable, the Scottish actor contributes with very little to the film. The same can be said about Tom Wilkinson, both seem to get seriously affected by the unavoidable frivolity of their characters. Colin Farrell is blessed which a much more interesting role, and his deeply human performance doesn't disappoint.


As usual in his Allen's films, it does take a while for the film to get started, but one it does (and here we have again another one of the newyorkian's hilarious settings) the rhythm is elegantly maintained during most of the story. It is throughout the middle part, where so many other films fail, that the script shows the most interesting, witty-dialogue-packed scenes, and the best examples of apparently unintended humorous treatment.


Don't expect anything radically original, or a classic meant to go down in history. But if you, too, usually enjoy Woody Allen's films, Cassandra's dream will certainly entertain and make you have as good a time as any other average Woody Allen's.


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