Quick: What91裸聊视频檚 a good adjective for Nicolas Cage91裸聊视频檚 screen presence? Mercurial, perhaps? Volcanic? Volatile?
How about mundane, schlubby, average? Not the page we91裸聊视频檇 think to turn to in our Roget91裸聊视频檚 Thesaurus.
Yet here Cage is, channeling his inner drabness to chillingly comic effect in Kristoffer Borgli91裸聊视频檚 As Paul Matthews (heck, even the name is drab), a college professor at nowhere famous, he performs his job with perfect mediocrity, and seems a fairly mediocre husband and dad, too. With his graying beard, wire-rimmed specs and shiny bald spot, Cage91裸聊视频檚 Paul is the guy in the room you ignore.
Until, suddenly, you can91裸聊视频檛. Because something weird starts happening. Paul starts appearing in people91裸聊视频檚 dreams. Everyone91裸聊视频檚 dreams.
The premise is delicious 91裸聊视频� and precarious. It recalled for me the setup in a very different movie, 91裸聊视频淵esterday,91裸聊视频� where only one guy on Earth remembers the Beatles. It makes for a fantastic beginning, but you immediately worry how they91裸聊视频檒l manage to keep it going.
But Borgli, the Norwegian writer-director making his English-language debut here (Ari Aster co-produces), is aiming for a broader statement about the nature of fame. And while the topic, which he91裸聊视频檚 broached before, may not be original, it91裸聊视频檚 ripe for exploration in the right hands 91裸聊视频� especially with an actor as inventive and unpredictable as Cage. Fame can be intoxicating, this film is saying, but it can and probably will turn on you in an instant, unless you91裸聊视频檙e Taylor Swift (OK, we added that last part).
We begin on an autumn day by a suburban swimming pool, where Paul is raking leaves near his teen daughter. Scary things start dropping from the heavens, and suddenly the girl is grabbed by an unknown force and lifted, screaming, into the sky. Dad? He does nothing to help.
It91裸聊视频檚 only the girl91裸聊视频檚 dream. But then there are more. Paul and his patient wife, Janet (Julianne Nicholson, reliably excellent) run into someone at the theater, and she too has dreamed about Paul. At a dinner party, several guests discover to their shock that they91裸聊视频檝e been dreaming about the same person. Yep, Paul.
What91裸聊视频檚 happening? On campus, Paul91裸聊视频檚 students, who mostly chat among themselves during his unremarkable lectures on evolutionary biology, start listening 91裸聊视频� they91裸聊视频檙e dreaming about him, too.
In many of these dreams, Paul stands by, inexplicably, as others experience peril 91裸聊视频� slithering alligators, for example. But in real life, for once, Paul has the floor 91裸聊视频� a man who until now seethed with frustration over his unrealized ambitions as others succeeded. Now, everyone is interested in him.
Borgli never stops to analyze the science of this bizarre development, and frankly, Paul doesn91裸聊视频檛 either. He takes a meeting with a snarky group of branding experts (led by Michael Cera, perfectly cast) who want to market him up the wazoo. They can get him a Sprite commercial! Well, Paul doesn91裸聊视频檛 want that 91裸聊视频� he just wants a book deal for his biology research. But his ears perk up at the idea of an endorsement from Barack Obama. (91裸聊视频淚 know Malia,91裸聊视频� one of these young professionals says.)
One young woman even lets on to Paul that in her dreams, the two have great sex. This is too stunning for the schlubby Paul to ignore, especially when she invites him home to recreate the dream. Needless to say, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 go as well in real life. In fact, the d茅noument is utterly, agonizingly humiliating.
And then, everyone91裸聊视频檚 dreams change. Suddenly Paul is the one causing harm. His students, terrified, don91裸聊视频檛 want to see him anymore. He gets sent home from a dinner with friends. He can91裸聊视频檛 even sit in a coffee shop and read a book without a fellow diner spitting on his food.
As for the branding consultants, well, they inform Paul that Obama is off the table 91裸聊视频� but hey, they could get him time with Joe Rogan or maybe Tucker Carlson.
We won91裸聊视频檛 spoil the ending, but let91裸聊视频檚 just make the obvious point that Borgli is not making a rom-com 91裸聊视频� is there a word for 91裸聊视频渉orror-com91裸聊视频�? We walk away from this funny, sad, scary film acutely reminded that if fame has two sides, one of them is pretty darned horrible.
And perhaps, as you walk home from the multiplex this time, you might even revel in the fact that nobody91裸聊视频檚 paying attention. Obscurity can be underrated.
91裸聊视频淒ream Scenario,91裸聊视频� an A24 release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association 91裸聊视频渇or language, violence and some sexual content. 91裸聊视频� Running time: 102 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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