Dream House...or not really a Dream House at all? That is certainly a question. And not every question has an answer. However this one does (A: not really a Dream House).
I stumbled across this film by accident when it came on the box during a mini-marathon of home improvement/renovation/moving shows. Expecting another half hour of property porn I felt my anxiety levels steadily increasing as time passed with only minimal progress being made on the renovations - a few dabs of paint here and there does not a Dream House make.
Just when I started to sense that the pace would soon pick up the plot took a major twist, in turn taking me completely by surprise (genuinely)! Amongst other things, the twist revealed that this so-called Dream House was in need of much more substantial repair work than anyone had anticipated - it was found to be unsafe for habitation by local authorities shortly thereafter.
Notwithstanding the deceptive title and the gripe below, I really enjoyed this film. Solid performances and a decent script coupled with a good, though thoroughly unambitious, blend of mystery, drama, and suspense.
Gripe: One element of the film I did not enjoy was the lack of creativity in how the plot twist gets revealed - there's no graded opportunity for the audience to (try to) join the dots, and feel super smart and smug for 'working it out' - which is a lot of the fun when it comes to these types of films! I do wonder if the conversation on set between director and writer might have gone something like this:
Sheridan: I love this plot twist but we need a less subtle way of revealing it. Loucka: Oh okay, we could drop some more obvious clues early on? Sheridan: We could.. but that's still too subtle. Could we do it with no subtlety? Loucka: None at all? Sheridan: Yeah, none. Loucka: Hmm... well a credible character could just tell everyone exactly what the twist is? Sheridan: Brilliant. Loucka: Thanks; I'm going to finish my other other 'house' themed script now.
I stumbled across this film by accident when it came on the box during a mini-marathon of home improvement/renovation/moving shows. Expecting another half hour of property porn I felt my anxiety levels steadily increasing as time passed with only minimal progress being made on the renovations - a few dabs of paint here and there does not a Dream House make.
Just when I started to sense that the pace would soon pick up the plot took a major twist, in turn taking me completely by surprise (genuinely)! Amongst other things, the twist revealed that this so-called Dream House was in need of much more substantial repair work than anyone had anticipated - it was found to be unsafe for habitation by local authorities shortly thereafter.
Notwithstanding the deceptive title and the gripe below, I really enjoyed this film. Solid performances and a decent script coupled with a good, though thoroughly unambitious, blend of mystery, drama, and suspense.
Gripe: One element of the film I did not enjoy was the lack of creativity in how the plot twist gets revealed - there's no graded opportunity for the audience to (try to) join the dots, and feel super smart and smug for 'working it out' - which is a lot of the fun when it comes to these types of films! I do wonder if the conversation on set between director and writer might have gone something like this:
Sheridan: I love this plot twist but we need a less subtle way of revealing it. Loucka: Oh okay, we could drop some more obvious clues early on? Sheridan: We could.. but that's still too subtle. Could we do it with no subtlety? Loucka: None at all? Sheridan: Yeah, none. Loucka: Hmm... well a credible character could just tell everyone exactly what the twist is? Sheridan: Brilliant. Loucka: Thanks; I'm going to finish my other other 'house' themed script now.