Dream Lover

R

Released Jan 9, 1994

1 hr. 43 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

57%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

38%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, Ray Reardon (James Spader), an architect, and hypnotically sensual Lena (Madchen Amick) are married with children. Only then does Ray catch his wife in escalating lies, which lead him to find out that Lena's past is invented and that she has been manipulating him ever since their first "chance" meeting. In the ensuing turmoil, Lena ends up with Ray's money, and he winds up in an institution -- from which he plots his return and revenge.

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angela g

this James Spader movie was good except it has a unnecessary cliffhanger ending but its still a good movie.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/17/24

Full Review

Toby B

There is no denying the absolute beauty of Madchin Amick and it's fun in a nostalgic way to revisit peak Spader. But my god this movie sucked. The funhouse carnival sequences are super doses of WTF. The entire film feels like an exercise in coldness and nonsense. You could park a Hummer in its plot holes.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/30/23

Full Review

Steve D

Spader nearly makes it work.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Nicholas Kazan's first films flirt between historical movies like his scripts for Frances, Patty Hearst and Reversal of Fortune with stories of murder with tinges of the otherworldly like Impulse and Fallen, as well as the neo-noir At Close Range. And oh yeah — Matilda. He only directed two movies, one an anthology TV movie called The Edge and this one, which moves from the standard thriller to perhaps a flirtation with the giallo form in that the main character begins to doubt his own innocence and identity as he finds his life unended by manipulation that began seemingly before he even meets his second wife. James Spader plays Ray Reardon, a recently divorced architect who bumps into Lena Mathers (Madchen Amick) at a party, at which points she reacts as if he slapped her. She sticks in his mind, because when he sees her at a grocery store, he stalks her and ends up sleeping with her. Within minutes of the film beginning, they're married and with child. But even the most normal details of his wife's life all seem like lies. When he meets someone who graduated from the same college as her, none of the people that are mentioned are memorable to Lena, including the President of the school dying during a major assembly. Ray's suspicions get to him so much that he travels to a small town in Texas where he learns that his wife's abusive past never happened; her family is surprised to learn that he's not in the CIA. And that's when he discovers the bruises. The kind that you get from making love to another man. Lena goads Ray into the unthinkable, as he slaps her, an act which lands him in a mental hospital. And it's there that she reveals her long con, to have his children, to take his money and to leave him behind. But the game isn't over yet. Dream Lover is more interesting when we don't know if Ray is guilty or innocent. Once it tips its hand. it loses that momentum. I do love the twist ending and you could argue that Ray really is deranged and everything from the slap on is inside his head, as there's no way that the police would arrest you and place you in a mental ward for months without a six-month observatory period. But you know, it wouldn't be a movie without a lapse in logic. Oh yeah — there are also circus clown-filled dream sequences that have nothing at all to do with the narrative, so that leads me to definitely include this as an American giallo. Because when things seem to make no sense for a very specific reason, that's when they become a giallo, right? Also: Why do I love James Spader, who plays a jerk in nearly every movie and gets to make movie love to Machen Amick, but think of Michael Douglas as a complete jerk? What a blind spot to have, as they both were 90s erotic thriller/American giallo-adjunct male stars!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

deke p

saw on tv first time 6-2018. somewhat interesting. Very young almost sexy Spader.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

unarousingly joyful and slow.wouldn't recommend it to anyone.pleasing its not.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

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Nicholas Kazan

Director

James Spader

Ray Reardon

Mädchen Amick

Lena Mathers

Bess Armstrong

Elaine

Fredric Lehne

Larry

Larry Miller

Norman

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Engagingly creepy thriller.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 27, 2005

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

It's the sensuous, deadly game of romantic cat-and-mouse that makes Dream Lover worth seeing.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Adam Lippe

Examiner.com

Eschewing his standard performance of smugness and distance, using intense, blank stares, Spader actually emotes with his lips too, suggesting that there's more going on than just a slimy scoundrel who we should pity because his livelihood is threatened.

Jul 15, 2012

Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Rated: 3/5

Oct 9, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jun 30, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, Ray Reardon (James Spader), an architect, and hypnotically sensual Lena (Madchen Amick) are married with children. Only then does Ray catch his wife in escalating lies, which lead him to find out that Lena's past is invented and that she has been manipulating him ever since their first "chance" meeting. In the ensuing turmoil, Lena ends up with Ray's money, and he winds up in an institution -- from which he plots his return and revenge.

Director: Nicholas Kazan
Executive Producer: Steve Golin, Edward R. Pressman
Screenwriter: Nicholas Kazan
Distributor: Polygram
Production Co: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 9, 1994, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 3, 2018
Sound Mix: Stereo, Dolby, Surround

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