The Dream Catcher

I've watched a whole lot of movies in my life. I'm pretty sure "The Dream Catcher" is the best one I've ever seen.

It's the perfect road movie. It's the perfect lost boys movie. It's the perfect American movie.

It's stuck with me more than any other film. The characters seem more real to me than some people I've actually met. The photography is outstanding, and unlike a typical Hollywood film chock full of grand vistas and long helicopter aerial shots and so on, this shows the real America as we'd see it, from eastern railyards to the empty expanse of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

If you're reading this, please do yourself a favor and see this movie.

I had the pleasure of studying with one of the writers of this film, Marc Neison, and viewing it with the writers and director. The script born of collaboration proved worth the time and effort, as the finished product really gets you hooked. The nuances behind the characters make you care about them, on many different levels for many different reasons. Overall, there is a mood about this film that, although it covers you in that "I'm Indie" feeling, leaves a mark of a truly thought out, meaningful, well assembled film. If you haven't seen this one, track it down. Guys like Ed Radtke exist on the fringe of the film world, often where the average film-viewer doesn't get to go. These guys put out work that still makes film seem like art. Good stuff.

At the inaugural Woodstock Film Festival, Ed Radtke's "Dream Catcher" took the Maverick Award for Best Feature Film - hands down - good thinking on behalf of the jury... this movie is beautiful...and a must see!

Sounds cliche - but really, I laughed...I cried.... I related, empathized, sympathized - did just about all the "izes" one could come up with.

Everyone I spoke to about the movie who saw it yesterday agreed - they were all blown away with this movie - I only hope it gets a chance to get out to everyone....

Hope this writer/director does a whole lot more for folks like us who love to see a movie that MOVES us - and that doesn't seem wrapped up with placing the "selling points" in a film that don't belong in there. The writing was beautiful, the actors were raw & real, the cinematography and symbolism was alluring... all to the point where you found yourself right alongside the characters... and deeper into the better part of yourself.

Beautiful flick...find a way to see this... Dream Catcher....

I was very enthusiastic because the trailer was promising, rich in elements that often appeal to me: the road, life, encounters, emotion. Finally, although the film is very beautiful to watch, with very noble road-movie settings, the story didn't really move me. I had a hard time finding the characters endearing, I think the script doesn't nourish them enough. The dream catcher theme is very little explored while there was a lot to show in that symbolisme In addition, the action is very limited, even non-existent, which makes a double effect of flatness. Too bad because this film could certainly have been much more than that. .

I saw this movie in the bin at my local library and thought it was about the Indian "Dream Catcher" ornament. I liked the theme of lost boys, traveling across the landscape, etc. It was a pleasant surprise. Clearly a low budget movie, but they can make for great cinema because of the love effort to make a story come alive. Usually movies like these have a team effort to produce the vision…in short, it's all about passion. The acting of both male leads worked really well.

Maurice Compte who played Freddy stayed in character as a gloomy young man holding all his pain inside. It is hard for an actor to play this type of character so consistently. His facial expressions were money and he had a look perfect for the killer type in a movie but he never really exploded which made me hang on with him through his journey. Paddy Connor's character has similar issues but instead of going inward, Albert is a young boy who lives in the moment. He can't stop, rest, or feel…he just keeps moving forward, chatting nonstop. I've worked with troubled boys in a minimal security home and actually worked with a boy who was very similar to Albert. Paddy Conner nailed this character—totally believable.

Rent, buy, or borrow this movie. Too bad it didn't get marketed like it was should have. A movie like this just goes to show us all that great films are sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting to be seen.