brianberns-1

It isn't often that I'll stick with a show this bad all the way through, but I did this time because I had a lot of respect for the actors and director going in. Unfortunately, their combined talents did nothing to save the day in this case. This is simply an unpleasant experience all the way through. Every one of the main characters is thoroughly unlikeable, the direction is mediocre, and the story is annoying. To top it all off, there's a twist at the end that seems calculated to punish the audience for paying attention. I guess the author was trying to make a point at our expense, but this is not my idea of good entertainment or good art.

The leads' commitment to their parts is admirable, but the consistently awkward delivery shows that even the actors didn't understand what Cameron Crowe was going for. There are several times that the actors just seem to be reciting lines without any comprehension of what the character was trying to say. As a viewer, I shared their confusion.

After a while, I just tried let go of the silly plot and vibe with the rom-com flow, but even that superficial take was unsatisfying. It's really hard to sympathize with Bradley Cooper as an emotionally damaged underdog when he has both Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams making goo-goo eyes at him for the entire movie.

The premise of a man who shows up in the dreams of others for no apparent reason, and the way in which his life falls apart as a result, deserves a better telling than this.

Nic Cage does a great job portraying an utterly unlikeable shmuck, but the movie could have told a deeper story if his character had some redeeming qualities. As it is, each scene he's in is wincingly awkward to watch, and he's in nearly every scene. It almost seems unfair to the character. For example, many shots of Cage are filmed from behind or the side in order to emphasize his baldness. Congrats to the Nic and the filmmakers for pointing that out so effectively, but it becomes way too much over the course of an entire movie. They've substituted mockery and cringe for what could have been an interesting plot.

As others have pointed out, the movie takes a dumb turn at the end, instead of staying committed to the course it has laid out. An honest ending would have been a better and darker, but the movie was already unsavable at that point anyway.