Mean Dreams (2016) Reviews

• This film is well worth a look – to see Paxton in his last major role – and for the overall quality of the movie itself.

  dave-mcclain2017-03-19

  The American-Canadian thriller "Mean Dreams" (R, 1:48) is one of two posthumous film releases for Bill Paxton (in addition to 2017's "The Circle", in which he has a small role). When Paxton died suddenly of complications from heart surgery at the age of 61 early in 2017, celebrity expressions of sorrow struck one consistent chord, well represented by Arnold Schwarzenegger's tweet that Paxton "could play any role, but he was best at being Bill – a great human being with a huge heart." In Paxton's most famous roles, he was an ordinary, basically decent guy caught up in extraordinary circumstances (as he was in "Apollo 13", "Twister", "Titanic" and "U-571"). He was also very good at playing tough and/or morally ambiguous characters (as he did in "Aliens", "A Simple Plan", "Edge of Tomorrow" and his award-winning HBO series "Big Love"), and some of his best work was as a basically bad person (as in "Weird Science", "True Lies", "Frailty" (which he also directed) and "Training Day", the TV series he was acting in when he died). "Mean Dreams" is another great example of Paxton playing against his true personality. In this film, Paxton plays Wayne Caraway, a rural Michigan police officer and single dad, who is pretty bad at both roles – and a pretty bad person in general. When local boy Jonas Ford (Josh Wiggins, the star of 2015's "Max") starts seeing Wayne's teenage daughter, Casey (Sophie Nélisse, who played the title role in 2013's "The Book Thief"), Wayne is pretty… mean about shattering Jonas' dreams of getting closer to Casey. Mostly it's because Jonas isn't shy about trying to protect Casey from Wayne's abuse, and because Wayne doesn't want Jonas nosing around and discovering any of his other... activities. After Jonas fails to get his father (Joe Cobden) or Wayne's boss (Colm Feore) to intervene on Casey's behalf, he takes matters into his own hands. When he witnesses an example of just how bad a man that Wayne is, Jonas steals some money, grabs Casey and hits the road. Of course, Wayne comes after his daughter – with a (literal) vengeance. As Jonas and Casey struggle to get away from Casey's dad for good, they confront the harsh realities of life on the run (especially as it pertains to two teenagers in the middle of nowhere), break some laws and put their safety and the safety of others at risk along the way. "Mean Dreams" is a small, but entertaining coming-of-age movie. The two teen protagonists aren't quite Bonnie and Clyde, but their saga is engaging and their love story is affecting. Nélisse and Wiggins are two rising young stars whose emerging talents shine through in sympathetic roles and Paxton does his usual expert work as one really bad dude. The script (by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby) and the direction (by Nathan Morlando) keep the action and dialog both unusually grounded and fairly unpredictable, especially for this kind of film. The score and the cinematography (filmed creatively and beautifully in northern Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie) are also very good, especially for a movie made on a small budget. The film is a bit lacking in gravitas, but it's worth a look – to see Paxton in his last major role – and for the overall quality of the film itself. "B+"

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• Well-acted indie thriller with an amazing landscape.

  NeonDisguise2017-03-17

  As a low-budget thriller/drama, I came into this film with modest expectations. I was very delighted to be treated to a well-acted film with an incredible landscape (filmed in Ontario). The acting was perfect. Sophie Nelisse has the makings of a world-famous box office smasher someday. Josh Wiggins was superb in his lead role. And the late great Bill Paxton played his role flawlessly. I will not include any spoilers as to why I'm "only" giving it an 8 out of 10, but I will say that this indie thriller is definitely worth watching. Rest in peace, Bill Paxton.

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• Loved every minute

  NateWatchesCoolMovies2017-04-08

  Mean Dreams is every adolescent's worst nightmare. Or maybe it's horrible scenarios like this that prepare youngsters for the real world, and build character. Or perhaps they just turn them into the same bitter, violent adults they're trying to escape from, only to perpetuate the circle. In any case, it's an ugly, somber story, scarred by the harsh realities some teens face on the road to adulthood. It's ironic in a way that this is Bill Paxton's last role in cinema, and I wish it weren't, because he plays an absolute monster. For anyone who's met him or seen interviews, he was the sweetest dude you could ever hope to meet, and wouldn't hurt a fly, but he always chose tough scripts that made memorable, challenging films and this is just one more. Here he plays a lawman and single father who moves his daughter (Sophie Nelisse) out to a desolate county, brought to life by stunning, haunted rural Ontario. Once there, she finds her only friend in a local rancher's son (Josh Wiggins), and it's not long before romance begins to flourish. Not on Paxton's watch though, that angry drunk prick. Abusive, dangerous and up to his neck in illegal activities, it's only a matter of time before he gets one of them, himself, or everyone killed, and Wiggins hatches a plan to get the both of them out of there and on the run to better lives. Trouble is, where do you turn for help in a town whose only police officers are not there to help you? Paxton has a bitter ally in the Police Chief, venomously played by Colm Feore, and the dragnet they lay over the county threatens to ensnare the two teens at every turn. Wiggins and Nelisse are excellent, especially for their age, playing the character development with all the right notes, even when things get tense between the two of them, a facet of their relationship that's nice to see and brings out shades of maturity in the writing, touches that this type of film begs for. Paxton is scary, tragic, broken and brutal, a soured man who shows occasional flickers of the father he once must have been, and despite the ugliness, it's some of his best work in a while, particularly during a positively poetic final confrontation. The cinematography from Steve Cosens lingers in the long grass until you can hear the mournful echoes of a region beset by economic despair, a place where danger breeds easily and is always just on the horizon, an uneasy mood also perpetuated by Son Lux's unconventional score, which finds the spark of first love amidst the strife. Downbeat, but hopeful stuff.

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• one of his Paxton's last and finest

  ferguson-62017-03-29

  Greetings again from the darkness. It was one month to the day since the shocking news that Bill Paxton had died when I sat down to watch one of his final two movies (the other being The Circle, which hits theatres in a few weeks). His searing performance in this low-budget drama made me realize just what a gaping hole he leaves in the film world … and how fitting that his character is the antithesis of Paxton's real world nice guy persona. Director Nathan Morlando opens with a shot of a peaceful stroll through rural prairie land, providing no indication of the quietly intense misery that is coming. Jonas (Josh Wiggins) is a teenage boy working daily on the family ranch when he meets Casey (Sophie Nelisse), the new girl in town. The two quickly hit it off, and connect in a way neither has before. Jonas soon realizes that Casey's cop dad (Paxton) abuses her, and spontaneously can shift between country charm and frightening intimidator. Writers Kevin Coughlan and Ryan Grassby do a nice job of using minimal dialogue and subtle interactions to round out these characters. Paxton plays a corrupt cop who is an alcoholic and abusive dad, and a man overly protective of his daughter and distrusting of outsiders. Casey is played by Sophie Nelisse, who was so good in The Book Thief (2013). She is a smart girl who fears not just her father, but also a life that may prevent her from ever seeing the ocean. Josh Wiggins plays Jonas as a strong-willed young man who believes people should do the right thing, especially for their loved ones. Wiggins made a terrific film debut in 2014's Hellion. There is a lot going in this little independent feature. It's a coming of age story, and a reminder of the anxiousness of youth and the power of first love. It's also a disturbing story of a rotten-to-the-core man who has lost his way (if he ever had it). Lastly, it's a chase movie that features a blend of beautiful and harsh scenery – filmed mostly in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario. There is a tremendously tense sequence shot with the limited perspective offered by the covered bed of a pickup truck; and it's a contrast between two youths trying to escape their situation, and two bad cops with little redeeming value. Maybe we've seen similar type movies, but never one with two excellent young actors and a menacing performance from the late great Bill Paxton.

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• Much better than I expected

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  On the whole, this is a very good movie all round. The four main cast members are superb, and the story is heavily character-driven, with no ridiculous stunts and special effects present to drown the characters out at any stage. The lean score and graceful cinematography allow the story to be told at an ideal pace, and aren't used to lift the intensity as one would expect with this genre because the story is good enough to take care of this on its own. I never felt as if things were dragging or being rushed, and things were largely unpredictable aside from the ending, which was satisfying nonetheless. For a good vs bad theme, the story favors neither side over the other in terms of skill and resources. So often the bad guys are made to look like fools but this isn't the case here, which I found to be quite refreshing. The teen romance side of things is handled better than almost any other examples I've seen. There aren't any cringe-worthy moments at all. In all, Mean Dreams was much better than I expected, and well worth the time I spent watching it. If you're after a low budget thriller which is well made, character-driven, and intelligently written, you could settle for much worse than this one.

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