Nicolas Cage never seems to disappoint us with his performances. They are either standard action with an edge of ridiculousness, serious with a strange concept or outright ludicrous. Dream Scenario sits within the middle bracket, as a story about an average man who finds himself appearing in people’s dreams. Benign at first, but eventually turns into a complete nightmare for himself and everyone who dreams about him. The film comes across as dark comedy but very quickly slips into something more serious and unfortunately, depressing.
Without explanation and without conclusion, Dream Scenario, leaks into our minds as a very abstract midlife crisis. Paul, helpless as to what people dream about, let alone how he appears in people’s dreams, is at first idolised, feared and finally abandoned by his friends, colleagues and family. This is a tragic story in which the protagonist and near to no control over his life and what happens. Paul could be seen as guilty as lapping up the attention at first, his ego inflated but ultimately, he is just a sad character with a simple life, a somewhat domineering wife and the all round basic existence. There is no cautionary tale here, no, be careful what you wish for, only a sense of disappointment and emptiness.
Dream Scenario won’t go down in Cage history as one of his best performances or best films. Interesting concept for sure but beyond that, it would be best to let this film fall into the ether.