Dream House
for violence, terror, some sexuality and brief strong language.
Reviewed by: Pamela Karpelenia
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Mystery Thriller Drama |
| Length: | |
| Year of Release: | 2011 |
| USA Release: |
September 30, 2011 (wide—2,600+ theaters) DVD: January 31, 2012 |
FEAR, Anxiety and Worry—What does the Bible say? Answer
relocating/moving a family to a different part of the country
murder in the Bible
| Featuring |
Daniel Craig … Will Atenton Naomi Watts … Ann Patterson Rachel Weisz … Libby Atenton Marton Csokas … Jack Patterson Claire Geare … Dee Dee Taylor Geare … Trish Rachel G. Fox … Chloe Patterson Mark Wilson … Dennis Conklin See all » |
| Director | Jim Sheridan—“In America,” “Brothers,” “In the Name of the Father,” “My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown” |
| Producer |
Cliffjack Motion Pictures Morgan Creek Productions Daniel Bobker … producer Mike Drake … executive producer Ehren Kruger … producer David C. Robinson … producer James G. Robinson … producer |
| Distributor |
“Everyone who lives in this house gets killed.”
“Dream House” begins with a retirement party for Will (Daniel Craig). Will has decided to take time off of work to fix up his dream house with his wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) and their two daughters. Soon after they begin reconstruction, strange things start to happen. Will sees his neighbor (Naomi Watts) dealing with a tense custody exchange, which only adds to the uneasiness. After finding some goth teens in his basement, Will quickly learns about the murders that took place in his dream house. It’s only when Will goes to investigate the murders that the true mystery unfolds.
The acting of the three leads is bland, at first, but the story develops, the acting appears to get better. The plot is straight forward, but you still have to pay attention. With a running time of 92 minutes, I risk of giving too much away, so I save the rest for my conclusion.
I counted about 10 blasphemies, all unnecessary and offensive. There is bloody imagery of gunshot wounds on little girls and a moderately violent fight scene. There is a brief scene of Will in a tub, but no nudity is shown.
The film deals with death, tragedy and guilt, and how it can manifest in a person’s life. We see Will’s journey to uncover the truth about what really happened in his house.
When things get out of control in life, we search for truth and for understanding.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, , and he will make straight your paths” —Proverbs 3:5-6.
As I watched the trailer for this film, I thought it gave too much away, and I was right, sort of. It doesn’t tell you the whole story, but it gives you big hints about what to expect. I found this film very short, but watchable, except for the blasphemies.
Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: None
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
While the twist comes at about the halfway mark (in my opinion, at least), as a result of knowing it just about everything that comes before it becomes moot. Then the twist is revealed, then it has to be dealt with, then we get another mystery, but that one is not anywhere near as compelling as the one the trailer gave away, and the climax is strictly routine. I spent most of “Dream House” waiting for the twist, so that I could put it behind me and get on with the story, and then, when it was finally over and done with, there doesn’t seem to be much of the film left. I left the theatre saying “is that it?”
On the plus side, “Dream House” is well acted by Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts, and Rachel Weisz, and there are some truly touching moments (especially a conversation between Craig and Watts” daughter). But giving away the twist pretty much gave away the film. Roger Ebert said that trailers need to give you “a smell, not a taste” of the film. The final scene is one of the worst I’ve seen in recent memory.
“Dream House” does contain violence and brief profanity, but is overall not offensive and lives up to its PG-13 rating.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 2