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I know it hasn't been released to the public theatrically yet, but I have seen it and would like to give my review...(with no spoilers)...for all MoFos. 
I love Stephen King. I've always been a devoted fan of his work, and he's rarely let me down. I thought DREAMCATCHER, the first book he wrote after his horrific accident, was a rollicking, fun, go-for-broke novel that strutted tall.
King was in fairly conventional territory (and even in areas he's been in before; the book had elements of IT, THE STAND, STAND BY ME [a.k.a. THE BODY], and TOMMYKNOCKERS), but you felt the absolute joy of the book -- in its heft and humor and meaty, cinematic action.
DREAMCATCHER tells the story of four longtime friends who go hunting in the Maine woods every year. They have quite a past, these fellows. When they were young they saved a mentally- challenged boy named Douglas from bullies. They grow close to the boy, called "Duddits," and the special man invests in them something...powerful. Each man has some sort of odd ESP. One can see "a line" to missing objects. Others get flashes of the future when they close their eyes. Needless to say, Duddits is not your average mentally-challenged young kid, and the day they saved him -- the day they were "meant" to find him -- changed their lives forever.
In my opinion, this is probably the best adaptation of King's work ever. Even MISERY, which Goldman also wrote, toned down the book and made it conventional. Kasdan and Goldman take all the highlights from the book, roll them out, cutting down on some of the character stuff, but without losing an inch of the power. All the great moments are here to feast on
DREAMCATCHER the novel was cinematic. It had plenty of cool, swaggering action scenes and all that ALIEN stuff going for it. But Kasdan and Goldman were not blinded by this seductive material and smartly kept the more character-driven portions of the book, involving the relationship of the friends and their bond with Duddits. They basically change very little of King's book (he's practically a screenwriter here) and whether it was out of necessity or faith in its audience, I like that Kasdan doesn't shy away from the weirder and less commonplace elements
DREAMCATCHER, matching the tone of King's book, is exciting, rousing, swift, smart, and tons-a-fun. I had a great time reading the book, jouncing along as it drove over the edge, and the script does a nice job of matching that. I feel Goldman and Kasdan did as good as can be expected in translating such a long book. Reading it gives the impression that you are actually reading the novel -- it's that close -- but that's a testament to how slyly the writers have pared down the story (a dialogue snip here, a character gone there, a reduction here). But it's King's work, through and through and undiluted by Hollywood standards, and I think King fans -- who, like myself, cringe at a lot of the movies made from his books (HEARTS IN ATLANTIS included) -- are in for a welcome surprise.
However, you shouldn't be too worried. Because before and after that the script is damned good. This is by far the best script venerable Goldman has been involved with in years. It's sort of sad, really, that Goldman has become two things: the guy to call if you want to adapt Stephen King and an action-script rewriter. It's great to see him credited with good material again. (The last thing he wrote of any wealth was a rewrite on the John Travolta flick THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER, and that was four years ago; before that, I think his last worthy script was MISERY.)
Kasdan, who is brilliantly diverse, is almost ludicrously perfect for this material. He knows how to do the whole alien-dogfight thing -- he knows how to wrench drama from extraterrestrial doings (thanks to those STAR WARS gigs) -- and he's the master of the character piece. From THE BIG CHILL (which, admittedly, people think is a rip-off) to his recent MUMFORD. Kasdan, who's a refreshingly smart guy, always colors his films with that aptitude, and though he's sort of dropped out of the movie world for a while and might just have been forgotten, this is going to bring him back -- with a Technicolor contrail of sparkling red across the sky. If the script I read is any indication, this is going to be a big, expensive movie with numerous shifts in tone. It's a tremendous job, and if it was anyone but Kasdan I might worry...but I have no doubt he'll handle it with ease.
Kasdan has assembled an interesting cast, made up of some of my favorite actors, but I can't agree with everything he's done.
First up we have Curtis, played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman is, bar none, the best living actor, and possibly the best actor of our generation. The man could make reading a laundry list intoxicating with that deep purr of a voice. He's simply outstanding. But in this role? I just don't see him. Freeman is about control and being unflappable and cool. I can't picture him playing this role as written unless he's bringing something radically different to the table.
The friends are played by Thomas Jane (Henry), Jason Lee (Beaver), Timothy Olyphant (Pete) and Damian Lewis (Jonesy). Let me first say that Thomas Jane is perfectly cast. I have a feeling this will be the film that rockets his career stratospherically. Timothy Olyphant, who you've seen in GO and GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, is an underrated actor who will also get a boost from the film. Now we come to Jason Lee, an amazing, natural actor who can do no wrong. Tom Sizemore (HEAT) plays Underhill. And Donnie Wahlberg is the adult role of Duddits. I'm guessing Kasdan saw Donnie's haunting work in THE SIXTH SENSE and knew he had his man. Donnie pulled off this part perfectly. My problem, as it was in the book, is that Duddits is a woefully inaccurate character. He's sort of this angelic, mumbling man- child. Kasdan and Goldman dream up some connections to things in the friends' lives that I don't remember from the book -- especially about Duddits -- and they work surprisingly well. So the script has a greater excuse for its Duddits behavior.
DREAMCATCHER was a great book, and it's been turned into a damn good script. Goldman and Kasdan get everything right until the end, and they perfectly capture the freewheeling pulse of King's novel. As a lifelong devotee of King's work, I think the greatest, most laudatory thing I can say is this.....
Goldman, Kasdan -- You didn't screw up the book. Congratulations!!!
Grade - A+
I love Stephen King. I've always been a devoted fan of his work, and he's rarely let me down. I thought DREAMCATCHER, the first book he wrote after his horrific accident, was a rollicking, fun, go-for-broke novel that strutted tall.
King was in fairly conventional territory (and even in areas he's been in before; the book had elements of IT, THE STAND, STAND BY ME [a.k.a. THE BODY], and TOMMYKNOCKERS), but you felt the absolute joy of the book -- in its heft and humor and meaty, cinematic action.
DREAMCATCHER tells the story of four longtime friends who go hunting in the Maine woods every year. They have quite a past, these fellows. When they were young they saved a mentally- challenged boy named Douglas from bullies. They grow close to the boy, called "Duddits," and the special man invests in them something...powerful. Each man has some sort of odd ESP. One can see "a line" to missing objects. Others get flashes of the future when they close their eyes. Needless to say, Duddits is not your average mentally-challenged young kid, and the day they saved him -- the day they were "meant" to find him -- changed their lives forever.
In my opinion, this is probably the best adaptation of King's work ever. Even MISERY, which Goldman also wrote, toned down the book and made it conventional. Kasdan and Goldman take all the highlights from the book, roll them out, cutting down on some of the character stuff, but without losing an inch of the power. All the great moments are here to feast on
DREAMCATCHER the novel was cinematic. It had plenty of cool, swaggering action scenes and all that ALIEN stuff going for it. But Kasdan and Goldman were not blinded by this seductive material and smartly kept the more character-driven portions of the book, involving the relationship of the friends and their bond with Duddits. They basically change very little of King's book (he's practically a screenwriter here) and whether it was out of necessity or faith in its audience, I like that Kasdan doesn't shy away from the weirder and less commonplace elements
DREAMCATCHER, matching the tone of King's book, is exciting, rousing, swift, smart, and tons-a-fun. I had a great time reading the book, jouncing along as it drove over the edge, and the script does a nice job of matching that. I feel Goldman and Kasdan did as good as can be expected in translating such a long book. Reading it gives the impression that you are actually reading the novel -- it's that close -- but that's a testament to how slyly the writers have pared down the story (a dialogue snip here, a character gone there, a reduction here). But it's King's work, through and through and undiluted by Hollywood standards, and I think King fans -- who, like myself, cringe at a lot of the movies made from his books (HEARTS IN ATLANTIS included) -- are in for a welcome surprise.
However, you shouldn't be too worried. Because before and after that the script is damned good. This is by far the best script venerable Goldman has been involved with in years. It's sort of sad, really, that Goldman has become two things: the guy to call if you want to adapt Stephen King and an action-script rewriter. It's great to see him credited with good material again. (The last thing he wrote of any wealth was a rewrite on the John Travolta flick THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER, and that was four years ago; before that, I think his last worthy script was MISERY.)
Kasdan, who is brilliantly diverse, is almost ludicrously perfect for this material. He knows how to do the whole alien-dogfight thing -- he knows how to wrench drama from extraterrestrial doings (thanks to those STAR WARS gigs) -- and he's the master of the character piece. From THE BIG CHILL (which, admittedly, people think is a rip-off) to his recent MUMFORD. Kasdan, who's a refreshingly smart guy, always colors his films with that aptitude, and though he's sort of dropped out of the movie world for a while and might just have been forgotten, this is going to bring him back -- with a Technicolor contrail of sparkling red across the sky. If the script I read is any indication, this is going to be a big, expensive movie with numerous shifts in tone. It's a tremendous job, and if it was anyone but Kasdan I might worry...but I have no doubt he'll handle it with ease.
Kasdan has assembled an interesting cast, made up of some of my favorite actors, but I can't agree with everything he's done.
First up we have Curtis, played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman is, bar none, the best living actor, and possibly the best actor of our generation. The man could make reading a laundry list intoxicating with that deep purr of a voice. He's simply outstanding. But in this role? I just don't see him. Freeman is about control and being unflappable and cool. I can't picture him playing this role as written unless he's bringing something radically different to the table.
The friends are played by Thomas Jane (Henry), Jason Lee (Beaver), Timothy Olyphant (Pete) and Damian Lewis (Jonesy). Let me first say that Thomas Jane is perfectly cast. I have a feeling this will be the film that rockets his career stratospherically. Timothy Olyphant, who you've seen in GO and GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, is an underrated actor who will also get a boost from the film. Now we come to Jason Lee, an amazing, natural actor who can do no wrong. Tom Sizemore (HEAT) plays Underhill. And Donnie Wahlberg is the adult role of Duddits. I'm guessing Kasdan saw Donnie's haunting work in THE SIXTH SENSE and knew he had his man. Donnie pulled off this part perfectly. My problem, as it was in the book, is that Duddits is a woefully inaccurate character. He's sort of this angelic, mumbling man- child. Kasdan and Goldman dream up some connections to things in the friends' lives that I don't remember from the book -- especially about Duddits -- and they work surprisingly well. So the script has a greater excuse for its Duddits behavior.
DREAMCATCHER was a great book, and it's been turned into a damn good script. Goldman and Kasdan get everything right until the end, and they perfectly capture the freewheeling pulse of King's novel. As a lifelong devotee of King's work, I think the greatest, most laudatory thing I can say is this.....
Goldman, Kasdan -- You didn't screw up the book. Congratulations!!!
Grade - A+
thanks.
