Dreamland

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***½

Sleeper pick of the week:

Once in awhile you encounter a small movie to which the adjective "dear" is applicable, and Dreamland is one of this increasingly rare breed. An ensemble piece heavy on character and short on plot, it is beautifully directed by first timer Jason Matzner. Screenwriter Tom Willett's dialog is real, funny and moving, while the location -- a trailer park in the American southwest -- seems just offbeat enough to entice. The filmmakers treat these quirky individuals as worthy of our time and attention, rather than as the film trailer-trash we so often encounter.

The cast is special, too: John Corbett (My Big, Fat Greek Wedding, Sex and the City) and Kelli Garner (Love Liza, Thumbsucker) are as good as they've ever been, with Gina Gershon and Chris Mulkey just as fine in lesser roles. Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers, Galaxy Quest) makes his near-hero as sweet and dreamy as possible without conceding any necessary reality, and Agnes Bruckner (Blue Car, The Woods) turns in yet another splendid performance that is noticeably better (with the exception of Blue Car) than its surrounding material. Watch Bruckner in the recently-released-to-video Haven for an object lesson in fine acting, in which she is almost unrecognizable as the same young woman who appears in Dreamland.

If one character's return to near normalcy seems a tad too easy, little else is in this sweet movie about kind (if troubled) people. Nobody - including even one young man who does something that approaches the unforgivable - is a villain here. These are selfish but recognizable humans who try hard, but who are sometimes quite trying. Willet and Matzner take us as far as they can into the lives on view but don’t push boundaries any further than can be intelligently maintained, while keeping sentimentality in check. I'll be pleased to see a next effort from either one of them.