CINEMA: The Good Night
January 17, 2008Do you ever wake up in the mornings and wish you could continue in your dream world rather than have to exist in real life? Gary (Martin Freeman) most certainly does. He’s a one time pop singer now providing jingles for exacting clients.
At home, his relationship with Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow) has descended into a round of petty squabbles, while best mate Paul (Simon Pegg) has left Gary behind, as he’s now a successful, if obnoxious, businessman. But Gary has found a way to escape – when he sleeps he dreams of a luxurious house where he has an illicit affair with Anna (Penelope Cruz), his ideal woman. The problem with this perfect fantasy world is that Gary never wants to leave it and so consults dream guru Mel (Danny Devito) to learn the secrets of lucid dreaming. However, this is when Anna turns up in real life, giving Gary one almighty headache.
Written and directed by Jake Paltrow (Gwynnie’s brother), there is an intriguing basic idea to this movie along the lines of ‘if dreams were to come true, would we really want to live in them?’ In reality, the film itself is a lightweight affair, all rather fluffy round the edges. Similar ground was covered more convincingly (and with much more charm) by director Michel Gondry in The Science Of Sleep. However, there’s a great soundtrack of Pulp songs and Simon Pegg plays sleazy as if born to it. Dee Pilgrim
