Cassandra's Dream

PG-13

Released Jan 18, 2008

1 hr. 48 min.

Drama

List

46%

118 Reviews

Tomatometer

49%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Life is good for the Blaine brothers, at least for the moment. Ian (Ewan McGregor), a restaurateur, is in love with a gorgeous actress (Hayley Atwell) ; and Terry (Colin Farrell) wins big at the dog track and buys a yacht. Their luck soon changes when Terry's loan sharks come calling. The brothers ask their wealthy Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) for a loan, which he is happy to provide in exchange for one little favor: Kill a whistle-blowing colleague.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Mar 28

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Cassandra's Dream on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson act up a storm in Cassandra's Dream, but Woody Allen's heavy-handed symbolism and foreshadowing drains the plot of all tension.

Read Critics Reviews

Alexsander F

Um bom filme para se passar o tempo, um filme ruim de Woody Allen consegue ser melhor do que qualquer outro filme que seja "mais ou menos".

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Jeff M

If this isn't the darkest movie Woody Allen has ever made, it's gotta be in the top three or four. There is no comic relief here at all, so detractors of Allen's serious films should avoid at all costs. In fact, the drama and tragedy here feel almost Shakespearean at times. I'm giving the film a lukewarm recommendation, but a couple issues keep it from being the success for which I was hoping. As intriguing as the premise is, this isn't one of Allen's better screenplays, and the characters feel more like stereotypes than living, breathing people. But the biggest hurdle is the casting of McGregor and Farrell who never convince us for a moment that they are brothers. Neither give a performance that will highlight their resumes - Farrell in particular seems to struggle in the more intense moments of the film. Overall, there is enough good here to recommend - but just slightly.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/18/24

Full Review

robert r

In discussing my thoughts on the last movie I saw of his -- "The Purple Rose Of Cairo" -- I talked about the many different shades of Woody Allen we've seen over the years (i.e. "satire Woody Allen," "crime/thriller Woody Allen," "romantic drama Woody Allen," etc.) Welp. I can say this is, without a doubt, my very first exposure to "Woody Allen, the occasionally mediocre screenwriter/director." Don't get me wrong, I'd still say I enjoyed the net product overall, with the second half of the movie presenting moral dilemma after moral dilemma, each nagging at the base of your skull like a migraine waiting to happen. It just so happens that there are other migraine-inducing things in play here, namely the hammer-fisted dialogue and character development, ultimately plaguing a good portion of this film's first half. Combine that with some of the weakest direction I've seen in a Woody Allen picture to date and you get the experience of watching "Cassandra's Dream," a marginally thought-provoking, decently acted morality play, with some upsettingly sub-par writing interspersed throughout it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

For some reason I am having a hard time figuring out this movie just doesn't resonate it feels hollow

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Woody Allen made his triumphant, some would say, return to straight dramatic films set in Britain with this 2007 minor box office success that was greeted with a mixed critical response. He returned to American productions with Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) which was set in Spain but features American protagonists and was produced by Americans. Few people defend this period of his career as it shows up the fact that he is out of touch and features him putting talented British casts to waste with screenplays that make them sound unnatural and stories that put audiences to sleep. I would like to believe that he became reinvigorated when he brought his work to a different environment but to be honest his late 1990s work in the United States was more tolerable than what he does now. In South London two dramatically brothers, gambling addict Terry, Colin Farrell, and introvert Ian, Ewan McGregor, purchase a boat together which they name ‘Cassandra's Dream'. Both were influenced by their difficult upbringing as their controlling mother Dorothy, Clare Higgins, turned them away from the teachings of their nurturing father Brian, John Benfield, and towards their aggressive uncle Howard, Tom Wilkinson. Each of the men find themselves needing money in order to fund their desires as Terry needs money to keep gambling while Ian wants to run away with the beautiful Angela Stark, Hayley Atwell. Howard, who has a background in criminal activities, hires the brothers to murder Martin Burns, Phil Davis, who holds potentially sensitive incriminating information about him. The brothers successfully carry out the murder after some trepidation and while Ian is happy with his life after committing the murder he finds that Terry falls apart. He and Howard resolve to have him killed but after a scuffle Ian dies and Terry is left to his own self destructive devices. Many critics were prompted to reference Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), a similarly themed family crime drama released in the same year, and it is true that this film pales in comparison. Where Sidney Lumet seems to know the streets of New York City in that film and directs Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and especially Philip Seymour Hoffman to career best work Allen seems confused. I was drawn in by the complicated relationship dynamics found in that film as the persecution complex that Hoffman has in relation to his father and his manipulation of his brother was so delightfully awful that you can't help but want to see where the film goes. Here our brothers are less well defined with Terry having a gambling problem that introduces conflict that we do not particularly care for and Ian is a strange, largely emotionless man taken in by a femme fatale. Between the two there is little resentment and because their true father figure, the morally questionable Howard, does not loom as large as Finney the dynamic between the three of them features less tension and intensity. I wanted to be holding my breath as the resentments bubble up and wordy arguments erupt. I would not have been surprised if a first time director had made this film as it seems like a young cineaste who loved the films of other directors thought he could make a film as good as them. Of course, Allen is not a young upstart but a veteran director with an illustrious filmography behind him who should have known better than to blatantly imitate others who have a stronger handle on this type of material than him. I wanted to see more of Allen's signature touch as his classic Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) deals with similar material to this film but features black comedy and wonderfully neurotic characters. He not only orients himself in England, a country he has proven he has little understanding of, but works with a completely new set of actors who seem adrift without his support. What could have been an updated version of Crimes and Misdemeanors for mid-2000s audiences becomes one of those annoying experiments that Allen produces almost every year nowadays. Scoop (2006) was a career low and this appears impressive in relation to that film but it is still a deeply flawed piece of work that probably should have been directed by somebody with different sensibilities.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

s r

A bit too predictable and not especially well directed.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Woody Allen

Director

Ewan McGregor

Ian Blaine

Colin Farrell

Terry Blaine

Hayley Atwell

Angela Stark

Tom Wilkinson

Uncle Howard

Sally Hawkins

Kate

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

61%

60%

Resurrecting the Champ

36%

66%

21

3%

38%

Deal

63%

60%

Grace Is Gone

34%

58%

Rails & Ties

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

UK Critics Consensus: Was W. Wicked? Is Pride & Glory Proud and Glorious?

Critics’ Consensus: Cloverfield is Monstrously Fun, 27 Dresses Fails to Impress, Mad Money Not Worth Much

TIFF Day 6: In the Valley of Elah, Cassandra’s Dream, Atonement

View more photos

Hank Sartin

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Linda Barnard

Toronto Star

Farrell and McGregor bring much to their roles...to make Cassandra's Dream an effective and chilling ride.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 6, 2009

Full Review

Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

It's enough to make you pine for the good old days -- back when life was only partly ironic and Woody was totally funny.

Rated: 2/4

Feb 6, 2009

Full Review

Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

It's not Dostoyevsky, but neither is it a shopworn trifle. It is, if you will excuse the literary metaphor, a good read.

Mar 22, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The storyline is habitual territory for Allen, mixing average, down-on-their-luck people with criminal opportunities for remediation.

Rated: 6/10

Nov 28, 2020

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Farrell flexes his acting muscles by offering a more vulnerable performance than one might expect.

Rated: 2.0/4.0

Sep 5, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Life is good for the Blaine brothers, at least for the moment. Ian (Ewan McGregor), a restaurateur, is in love with a gorgeous actress (Hayley Atwell) ; and Terry (Colin Farrell) wins big at the dog track and buys a yacht. Their luck soon changes when Terry's loan sharks come calling. The brothers ask their wealthy Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) for a loan, which he is happy to provide in exchange for one little favor: Kill a whistle-blowing colleague.

Director: Woody Allen
Executive Producer: Vincent Maraval, Brahim Chioua, Daniel Wuhrmann
Screenwriter: Woody Allen
Distributor: Weinstein Co.
Production Co: Wild Bunch, Virtual Films
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Some Sexual Material|Brief Violence)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 18, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $969.6K
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now