I am even more convinced than ever now, that somewhere in Hollywood, there is a bank of outlines for movie ideas, filed under categories. Filmmakers who are desperate for an idea, tap in to these banks, and follow the outlines, changing names, and a couple of details, but staying true to the outline. In there are probably, "Buddy-Cop Action movie" "Romantic comedy". "Boy and girl who should be together but aren't now, but will be by the end of the movie", you get the idea. Well, one day, I'm sure Neil Jordan tapped into the "Psychological Thriller" outline database, and from that, hatched the idea for In Dreams. This movie is a nice looking, but disturbing, vision, but unfortunately is devoid an original, or interesting story.

Annette Bening, in a compelling and emotionally intense performance, plays an artist, with some serious sleeping problems. It seems she has some unwanted company there, the visions of a serial killer who apparently knows, and has a connection to her. What that connection is, is never really explained. You can see where the plot is going from moment one, you know there's going to be a chase, you know there's going to be a showdown, ho hum. Jordan tries to infuse the original touch of having the killer communicate with someone, via thoughts. "feeding" things to her. The problem is, this has been done, and done much better. Ally Sheedy and Michael O'Keefe starred in the 1990 made-for-HBO movie "Fear", about a serial killer that took a psychic along with him. This movie followed similar guidelines, but was smarter, and had more intensity. Jordan obviously knows how to exhibit intensity through vision; it's just too bad that he doesn't know how to make a story to go with it.

As for the performances, Bening showed an athleticism, and emotional range, as the tortured distraught mother whose life is torn apart. Aidan Quinn is wasted, as Bening's husband (again, see Practical Magic) and Stephen Rea (a Jordan regular) sleepwalks through his role a dream analyst. Robert Downey Jr. is plain silly, and doesn’t even appear until the final minutes of the movie.

I had several problems with the consistency of the story. For instance, how can a child survive underwater long enough for buoys, and boats to appear (a town was flooded to make a reservoir, Downey was apparently trapped in it, and abandoned, hence his anger). That is one serious set of lungs. Secondly, Bening’s character should consider a career as a stuntwoman or pro wrestler. Three times in this movie, she suffers falls of more than 20 feet. She walks away twice, and awakes once. That’s one tough woman! Finally, the attempt at symbolism, using Snow White (apples, fairies, mirrors, etc.) fails miserably as well.