Review of Cassandra's Dream (2007) by Jdh. — 20 Jan 2008

On the surface this may seem to be a rebuttal to Crimes and Misdemeanors, but a closer examination sees that it is a very different story. Once one realizes that the story is not about two brothers, but about Ian, with Terry as a supporting character, it yields a similar, yet even darker conclusion than C & M.

The clue here may be the title. As Cassandra was cursed to speak the truth but not be believed, Ian speaks lies and is believed by practically everybody. (If you were cursed with the former, would you dream of the latter?) The resultant narcissism propels him toward a inexorable descent to doom that is all Greek tragedy.

Unlike Judah Rosenthal, Ian has no moment of remorse after the deed, though he was much more hands on than Judah. Ian is solely driven by his appetites and those around him suffer due in no small part to his lack of substance.

Still, unlike Crimes and Misdemeanors and Match Point, Mr. Allen doesn't seem to be as on his game for this outing. The pacing seems uneven and things seem to slow to a crawl at the beginning of the second hour.

Though this fits in Allen's trilogy of murder quite nicely, in Ian there are interesting echoes of Lee Simon from Celebrity, both in plot mechanisms and even Mr. McGregor's resemblance to Kenneth Branagh in that role.

Still, an interesting study of a doomed personality totally subsumed by his refusal to take responsibility.