Dream Scenario. The increasingly brilliant Nicholas Cage continues his renaissance following his recent superb performances in Mandy, Pig and The unbearable weight of massive talent. Cage plays a run of the mill university professor who oozes normality. His students take no real notice of him. His former colleagues publish papers in top journals whilst he hasn't even started his book yet. But he's happy enough, if not fulfilled. Then, for no apparent reason, he starts appearing in people's dreams. Not just people who know or have met him. Anyone. And in the dreams they tend to be in difficult positions but he does absolutely nothing. He has no control over this. The first half of the film is hilarious - the whole cinema (the lovely Electric, Birmingham) we're in stitches as we see the dreams played out. And then the second half of the film takes a sinister turn, to reflect a changing nature of the dreams. And whilst the comedy ends at this point, the drama begins. Whilst the first half is the better half it would be wrong to say the second is disappointing. Cage is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors. Long may it continue. 8 out of ten.
