[yasr_overall_rating]
Instead of chasing boys on the beach with her friends, recent college grad Dora finds herself caring for her reclusive Great Aunt in snowy upstate New York. When the imaginative girl discovers her aunt’s hidden romantic past, Dora dreams that their revelation will pull Aunt Vera and herself from their mutual depressions.
“I Dream Too Much,” the new film by writer/director Katie Cokinos, gives audiences a simple, sweet-natured story of a young woman coming to grips with the decisions she makes and how those decisions affect others. In it, we find Dora (Eden Brolin) as a 20 year old college graduate who’s mother Helen (Christina Rouner) really, really wants her to go to law school. To avoid her mother’s constant nagging about the LSAT, Dora escapes to her aunt Vera’s (Diane Ladd) house. Vera was Dora’s benefactor throughout college and the wealthy former wife of a world famous war correspondent. When Dora meets a friend, Abbey (Danielle Brooks), she finds that her new friend is not only a businesswoman, but a talented singer. Enter Nikki (James McAffrey), a world famous music producer, along with Dora’s snooping which produces a trove of Aunt Vera’s old journals, and you have a mix of wonderful millennial mayhem.
The acting couldn’t be more perfect. From Abbey’s unsure, talented singer, to Helen’s regretful mother, each woman, and man, brings their A-Game to the screen. Brooks’ turn as Abbey shows how long term disappointments can hold down someone’s dreams. Ladd and Rouner get some of the most emotionally charged scenes and deliver heartfelt moments of anger, regret, and sheer heartache. These moments of tension and frustration come quickly and fade into the overall milieu of light-hearted coming of age. Even the successful Nikki has his share of regrets, having become bored with being a mega successful producer pumping out hit rock songs. He wants more, something fresh and different. McAffrey suits him well and gives a terrific set of motivational speeches to Dora and Abbey which help move each of them forward toward their dreams.
Eden Brolin steals the show from start to finish. She embodies Dora in every little quirk and detail. She’s an awkward young woman with little experience, lots of ideas and no real sense for how her actions affect the people around her. Brolin gives her exactly the right mix of voice and quirks to make her both frustrating at times yet wholly sympathetic. Having come from a long line of compelling actors, she shows how natural a great performance can feel. The awkward and somewhat nerdy we see is light years from the cool, confident beauty Brolin is in real life. Every performance here feels authentically real, but Brolin brings an extraordinary depth to a simple role.
Cokinos directs from her own script, but again does so with sure-handed confidence. The script flows easily together with some spare moments of tension. However short lived the tension is, she makes up for it in what is essentially a beautifully written script full of incisive lines and poetry. She handles the actors extremely well as they are the true strength of the film. Along the way, she creates fantastic roles for women in a Hollywood that seems to have forgotten half the population when it comes to great acting. I can’t quibble with any of her choices, though I suspect many will criticize “I Dream Too Much” as a little naive, focusing too closely on individual relationships without addressing the bigger issues facing women today. Those people can eat a rock, though. This film contains something Hollywood has forgotten about, the sweetness and forgiveness we extend to each other every day. It’s about a young woman learning in bits and pieces how to be an adult. While her ride isn’t as simple as it seems, it gives us a breath of fresh air knowing that optimists still exist in the film world.
Shot on location in Cokinos’ home town of Socrates, New York, in the dead of winter, the environment of ice and show is visually stunning, adding to the sense of magic which envelops much of the story. Her husband and cinematographer Alex Rappoport frames each sequence well and showcases the beauty of Socrates and its surrounding area without being overbearing. It seems like a fantastic place to visit.
Cokinos’ personality reflects the optimism which fills her script. Eden Brolin personifies that optimism in a standout performance which should attract attention. While it’s not a perfect film, “I Dream Too Much” is ultimately an uplifting joy to watch.
Available today on iTunes and Video On Demand
