D'un rêve à l'autre

Demi Moore is a very beautiful woman, and once again she proves that beauty alone cannot carry a movie. I've seen many of her movies, and only one of them really stands out to me as one that's worth watching more than once, and that's "A Few Good Men" - but it's worth watching for Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. Demi is basically window-dressing there.

"Passion of Mind" is typical Demi stuff. She has a troubled life as Marie/Marty - troubled because she isn't sure which one she really is; one life is a dream, the other reality. As Marie, she's a mother of two in France, as Marty she's a high powered literary agent in New York. Then in both lives she falls in love: in France with William (Stellan Skarsgård) and in New York with Aaron (William Fichtner.) The movie at times is confusing as she shifts from one life to another (which is all right, because it surely points to the confusion she has herself in trying to sort out reality from fantasy) and although there are hints from the very beginning as to which life is real (I took a guess that turned out to be right almost right away, but it was a guess) it does remain a mystery until the end. The last fifteen minutes or so of the movie add the needed emotional heart-wrencher as she says good-bye to those in her fantasy world and prepares for life in reality.

All fine. The primary problem with the movie is that Demi is living out two lives, neither one of which - quite honestly - are all that interesting, and which, as a result, don't make for particularly interesting viewing. In the end, this is a pretty standard Demi Moore movie. She doesn't offer a particularly energetic performance, but she's OK, and the movie isn't particularly good, but it isn't awful either.

5/10

Slightly bland love story with psychopatological elements where a woman lives two different lives in different countries (France and New York,US) but is unable to distinguish which one is real and which is just a dream. The movie has high production values but could have gone much further on its premise. An ultra romantic soundtrack doesn't help either.

Demi Moore is excellent in this intelligent drama about a widow living with her children in France who keeps going to sleep and waking up as a single career woman in New York. The double life is so effectively convincing that she can't tell which of the lives is real and which is the dream. On top of this, she has romantic interests in both lives, a controlling and passionate writer in France (Stellan Skarsgard), and a giving and kind man in New York (William Fichtner, his best performance yet). Moore's fascinating screen presence keeps this movie going even when it sags terribly in the middle, and Ronald Bass' script makes such a compelling argument for both of her lives that it's very difficult to guess for yourself what the outcome will be. The film's conclusion is so well played out and rewarding that it renders any previous flaws completely void. Also features a rich performance by Sinead Cusack.

In Alain Berliner's (Ma Vie en Rose) new film PASSION OF MIND Demi Moore (G.I. Jane) is torn between reality and a dream. When we first meet her she is Marie a mother of two daughters living in the French country side and reviewing books for a stateside paper. She lives as a recluse, pretty much, except for a friend (Sinead Cusack) who helps her deal with personal problems, including the death of her husband. We assume that Marie has some deep emotional problems but it isn't until she goes to sleep that we find out just how deep those problems are. You see, when Marie goes to sleep she dreams she is Marty, a New York literary agent. Marty is single and very independent. She has no children and is very passionate about her work. Marty has no time for relationships and keeps everyone at a safe distance emotionally. But, you can see in her face that she to has a secret. Yes, that's right when Marty goes to sleep at night she dreams she is Marie. Both Marie and Marty are fully aware of the other but neither knows which is dream and which is reality.

It is here that the story starts to get interesting. Marie meets William (Stellan Skarsgard,) an author whose book Marie panned. William, almost stalking, shows up one day and befriends one of Maries daughters and eventually works his way into Maries heart. Meanwhile, Marty encounters Aaron (William Fichtner,) an accountant doing business with her firm, who has an immediate attraction to her. And, just like Marie, Marty begins to have feelings for Aaron.

Marie and Marty begin to realize they are in love. But, which one is real? In both lives there are therapists trying to help solve this very problem. Both Marie and Marty can feel each other's love. We, as the viewer, feel it too! Neither woman allows their respective men to get too close, believing something bad may happen if either of them are awakened in the middle of the night. Both women realize that their relationships cannot last like this. They must figure out which is reality and which is dream. If they make the wrong decision all could be lost. We try to decide, as well, which is real and which is dream. It's not until we start to unlock the past that we find out if we have made the right decision.

The writers (Ron Bass and David Field,) do a great job using the dream world to show how some people deal with traumatic events in their past by suppressing them into their subconscious. Everyone and everything in the dream life represents something significant in the real life past. The cinematography is also wonderful. Eduardo Serra (What Dreams May Come, The Wings of The Dove) shoots the French scenery marvelously making it seem very tranquil, while giving Manhattan a dark, cold and very overwhelming feeling. The director, Berliner, then takes this material and crafts it into a tale of duality, where one woman locks her feelings deep in her own mind and takes them out only in the privacy of her dreams.

This movie is not about thrills and chills. It is about self discovery, self nurturing, settling of one's past, I think. The pace is slow and gentle.

There are quite a few cues in the movie that are confusing as one tries to figure out the real world versus the dream world. However, the chemistry between Demi Moore's character (Marty) and William Fichtner's character (Aaron) seems more substantial, although initially, less romantic.

In trying to figure out what is really going on, as I viewed the movie, I felt a little off balance. The dialogue is really good. There is a lot of truth about relationships revealed here.

This movie is worth checking out especially if you want a change of pace.