“Dreamcatcher” (Warner Brothers)
It is not an easy thing to bring a Stephen King story to the screen. Most times the wit and horror of his novels defy translation to the visual. There have been exceptions such as “Stand By Me,” “The Shining” and “Carrie” and they were magnificent. But usually you find such clunkers as “Cujo” and “Salem’s Lot.” “Dreamcatcher” is the latest effort to movie-ize a King novel and it is a failure. It gets an “A” for effort but it is still a failure.
In “Dreamcatcher” four lifelong friends gather at a remote mountain cabin for their yearly retreat. They come because they are bonded through friendship and because a mildly retarded young boy named Dudditts bestowed on each of them a form of extrasensory perception.
While they are at the cabin they come face to face with an alien visitor. This creature looks like a huge saber-toothed worm and it is infecting the entire area. This has prompted a military man named Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman) to seal off the entire mountainside area.
The friends might be able, with the help of Dudditts (Donnie Wahlberg), to overcome the aliens. In pure Stephen King fashion they are earth’s last hope. But by the time you get to the final conflict you have been so inundated with wormy horrors that you meet the final battle with a groan rather than enthusiasm.
Jason Lee has a few good moments (with the emphasis on few) as Beaver. Timothy Oliphant is barely noticed as Pete. Thomas Jane is bland as Henry, but Damian Lewis makes an impression as Jonesy. Freeman is eerily spooky as the Colonel while Tom Sizemore seems even crazier as his second in command.
The special effects are good but the alien killer worms become laughable after a while. It is hard to take any of this seriously. Unlike the “Alien” series of movies, which it seems desperate to imitate, the threat of the invader just seems like a Halloween prank.
The movie is rated R for profanity and violence.
If this movie did not have Lawrence Kasdan as director it wouldn’t be taken seriously at all. But with him, the movie seems to be a bit better than it really is. It isn’t good King but it isn’t the worst King ever.
One thing the movie does have going for it is an “Animatrix” short which precedes the feature. It is a mini-movie with more excitement in its short time frame than all the chills from the full length “Dreamcatcher.”
I scored “Dreamcatcher” a nightmare 4 out of 10.
©2003 Jackie K. Cooper
