My Dreams of You

I don't understand the low ratings. People complain the Hallmark romcoms are predictable and lacking in originality and then when they produce something different they criticize. Sure there are plot holes but I have seen large budget major motion pictures with plot holes. Movies like these are supposed to be enjoyed and an escape from life. I just watched this for the second time and enjoyed it again. I thought the leads had great chemistry. Sure you know they will somehow get together at the end but that is the genre. The supporting cast was great especially Cecilia Lee. Please someone, cast her in a lead role!

Initially, I thought I wasn't going to care for this film whose main conceptual theme seems to be to not give up on your dreams...even if that means not being able to pay your rent and having to struggle working unfulfilling temp jobs while getting rejections, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying the film by the end because of it's creativity. I feel like this was a bit of a departure for Hallmark in that there was a fully fleshed out and imaginative Dream Central that is not only distinctly colored, but containing a whole staff of individuals whose job it is to watch video tapes of people's past to create dreams for them seeded with memories and experiences.

A new dream central employee makes a mistake and adds a Portland native musician named Michael to Grace's dreams. The problem is Grace has never met Michael and was never meant too. The new dream creator, Alura, and her supervisor , Harvey, have to go to the real world from Dream Central in order to convince Grace to allow them to erase Michael from her memory. The problem is Dream Michael is too great, so Grace tries to dodge Alura and Harvey...and meets Michael in person. Only Michael doesn't know who Grace is, but they get along famously in real life...just like in Grace's dreams. The two bond over their struggles to make it with their dreams, Michael is a want to be singer-songwriter and Grace wants to be a published author. The two collaborate a bit on a bicoastal trip back to Portland, Oregon (Michael's hometown), from Grace's hometown of Grand Rapids, MI.

I loved the look and feel of Dream Central with it's 1950's colors and VHS tapes, etc. It reminded me a bit of both The Good Place and Loki's TVA (Time Variant Authority). I really appreciated that Dream Central was fully fleshed out with staff, orientation, etc. I also liked seeing various Dream interactions between Grace and Michael, with Grace's old dress and dancing, etc. Then to have not only Grace's temp job...but Michael's back up family job...there was a lot going on, including a cross country train ride....and a meeting with Grace's Portland dwelling grandmother.

I loved the creativity and the excellent story telling. It was a big surprise to me. I even enjoyed Alura's fascination with pie! Cute, positive and fun. I think this was a positive departure from the Hallmark norm that I really appreciated and approved of. This is a recommendation from me, particularly for those who are dreamers.

I've been enjoying the direction Hallmark has been going in, with inclusivity and creativity being at the forefront of their newer films, and this one is a perfect example.

Grace is a writer temping to pay the bills while waiting for one of her stories to be published. Roy is a musician whose father wants him to join the family business, and while they may or may not be destined to meet is unknown as their dream weaver, Alura, accidentally introduces them via their dreams, against the laws of dream and nature.

Which brings forth the Dream Council, a department just outside the human consciousness that is responsible for creating and distributing dreams.

Their dream weaver Alura is an adorable newbie who accidentally gets their "tapes switched" as the dream council seems to be stuck in 1985 and uses VHS to record peoples memories which the dream weavers watch to construct the dreams.

The wardrobe and cinematography deserve a shout out, as the cinematography jumps from reality to dream land and does some creative blurring to keep the focus on the characters, and the wardrobe for the Dream Council/Department makes sure the viewer knows they're dealing with an otherworldly presence.

A few things stood out; the "play free bird" comment when Micheal gets on stage made me laugh out loud. Grace and Micheal have chemistry and some of the moments and lines are totally swoon worthy; "if we never met, if our paths never crossed, part of me would always be looking for you" - beautiful sentiment.

I will say that even though Grace seeks Micheal out, jumping on a train with a man you just met regardless of him being in your dreams feels irresponsible, but Micheal is a perfect gentleman.

I like the relationship between sisters, Becky and Grace and watching Alura fall in love with pie and her "clients" is very sweet.

Everyone stands out on their own, there are no weak links. It is Hallmark, no one is winning an Oscar, but as an avid Hallmark fan, this film was refreshing and tugged on the heart strings just enough.

The movie puts me in mind of a cross between In My Dreams (2014) and Ghosts of Christmas Always (2023). The first is obvious and probably better than this movie. The mechanics behind the Dream making and the ensuing screw ups echoes the latter movie. It is this totally unusual approach that lifts this movie slightly above the same old Saturday night stuff on Hallmark.

I'm not familiar with either of the leads. Someone really screwed up the credits on this website because Sklyer Samuels is listed at this writing as Emily. She is actually Grace.

Most of the acting is decent, at least for the real characters. The supernatural characters maybe not so much, but the whole operation behind the dream making has a Bush League feel. They are using VHS tapes for storage. The office has a pedestrian feel and maybe dated also.

Samuels and Kapil Talwalkar have chemistry. Their characters and relationship are appealing and for me this was where any hook was.

It seemed to me like the theme of chasing your dreams was pushed a little too hard, where "dreams" in this case is like "hopes and dreams" rather than what you do while asleep. It's not uncommon for Hallmark, but it can be carried a little too far. I thought it interesting that the story set up the idea of Grace as a struggling artist barely making ends meet, even to the point of having to borrow money. But when she went chasing Michael she seemed to have a lot of money to spend.

My rating acknowledges the somewhat unusual story and quirkiness of it, but I'm not sure if this is one I will want to watch again.

7.6 stars.

I liked this because it's a subtle twist on a familiar theme. It's about a woman who is fated (OR NOT) to meet a certain man. In this story she is dreaming about him. Next we are swept into a strange place where people's jobs are to regulate humans' dreams. It's a really weird attempt at a new rendition of angels working overtime to make sure fate and destiny are not knocked out of alignment.

So the rest is about a woman and a man that should never meet, and will they meet? Of course they will, otherwise this movie would be a bust. So there's no spoiler there. And after they meet, what will happen? That would be a spoiler, so I'll let you watch it and find out.

It's not bad. The twists were not too major, the acting is great, the writing is genius, the rest is good. The overall feeling is that this rounds up to 8 stars for me.