This is America. Didn't we used to be king of the road?
Once upon a yesteryear, weren't the roads of this country our domain? Pontiac, Kerouac, Sissy Hankshaw… one can easily make the claim that the American Road belongs to the public psyche. And, although no economic journalists are chronicling the loss of the American road movie to the overseas market, I certainly am.
It used to be that one would associate the road movie with long shots overlooking vast expanses: a sense of vastness that is as Quaker Oats American to Rush Limbaugh as it is to a San Francisco Hippie. But we started transforming the road into the realm of schlock with Spielberg's Duel and, ever since then, have been on the way down. It's gotten so bad that road movies are no longer coast to coast: They're within a few states (such as The Hi-Line, which goes from one end of Montana to another). And with this lessening in distance somehow comes a lessening of IQ. I guess that, when traveling a six hour drive, you just don't have time to be pensive, have nice cinematography, be romantic, and stop to pee.
So then it's highly refreshing that Ed Radkte came along and delivered a drug-free version of `On the Road' in The Dream Catcher, an incredibly pensive road trip that features two off-the-beaten path people, Freddy (Maurice Compte) and Albert (Paddy Connor), each on their own quest for their parents. Freddy, who runs from the probation officer and a pregnant wife, searches for the father that ran out on him. Albert, dejected, dumb, and a kleptomaniac, searches for his mother. Meeting in a rest area and starting to hitchhike together, Freddy and Albert make their way cross-country, developing a complex relationship, and learning to deal with each other.
The Dream Catcher uses this modus operandi to make its way through 99 minutes of waxing philosophical and getting to a pleasant, albeit ambiguous ending. In fact, ambiguity is the largest trouble that The Dream Catcher has. It goes through its running time, makes you think a helluva a lot, and leaves itself so open ended that you will either sit back and appreciate its brilliance or shrug in confusion. For me, The Dream Catcher was the former. For many theatergoers, however, it will probably be the latter. But, as with other narrativly experimental films such as Spring Forward, it's hard to criticize The Dream Catcher on its own grounds. The script is solid (although not teriffic), and the acting works. The title was a mystery to me until the director explained it, but the movie as a whole is better left unexplained… a philosophical mist floating through the ether, waiting for a hapless person to intersect with it an be enlightened.
RATING: ****
Director: Ed Radtke Producer: Julie Reichart, Steven Bognar, Ed Radtke Writer: Ed Radtke, M.S. Neison Starring: Maurice Compte, Paddy Connor, Jeanne Heaton
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