Review of Daydream Nation (2011) by Bobby L — 14 May 2011

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Man, what is it with quirky indie films including murders all of the sudden? First âWaiting For Foreverâ? had a muder in the middle of it, and now here, we get an entire subplot about a serial killer. WTF? However, the question you are probably asking is, âis it any good?â? Yes, yes, and, um, yes.

I've never been sure why Kat Dennings hasn't broken into the mainstream. She's cute, funny, and has charm to spare. Here, however, as Caroline, she's playing a bit off-type, and it proves to be her best acting to date. Playing a maniulpative, somewhat bitchy high school student that just moved to a new town with her dad, the fact that we don't ever really hate her character is quite impressive. That is all due to Dennings. In lesser hands this movie would have been DOA, as we would want to kill our protagonist. With Dennings though, you accept her behavior and root for her, even when you want her to wise up. If nothing else, this film is a great showcase for her, and every scene she's in (which is around 97% of them) is hypotontic.

Reece Thompson, playing the Lou Taylor Pucci role of Thurston, is equally as good. He's popping drugs left and right, and is just a bit awkward and shy, crying randomly. It's a tricky character, but Thompson ably navigates him to a real, grounded place, and allows us to sympathize with him. When first meeting Dennings' dad, her dad thinks Thurston might be selling something. The kid is just that awkward.

Playing the scuzziest of the characters, and in a decidedly different role than anything I have seen him do before, Josh Lucas is great. As a slightly unhinged thirty-something teacher who recently moved back home, after having a string of bad luck, he is fascinating to watch. Taking up an affair with Caroline, Barry Anderson (aka Mr. A) knows how much trouble he'd get into. However, it's easy to see why he'd fall for her, and moreover, his full on mental breakdown near the end of the film when Dennings officially breaks it off is experly played. Screaming âI'll kill him. No, I don't mean that. But I might kill myselfâ?, and making us believe he just well might do so (also heavily hinting he might be the serial killer), is nice.

Caroline's responds by saying, âI'm going to pretend you didn't say thatâ?, and walking away.

While it might sound callous, it's actually the high road. She's A) trusting him enough to believe he won't follow through on his threat, B) not calling the cops and getting him in even worse trouble, and C) she knows he needs to figure himself out before anything else.

That scene is one of the standouts.

Who knew Andie McDowell was still around? I want honest answers; exactly. In smaller roles both she and Rachel Blanchard as a gym teacher, and rival for Barry's interest, are good. Blanchard has little to do though, but when she tells Barry that it'd be âa dreamâ? for her to have dinner with him, it's genuine. As Thurston's mom, McDowell gets some good lines, and is included in the brillant climax of the film:

Caroline driving to a high school friend's party that everyone is at, intercut with the party and a very non-sober Thurston, intercut with McDowell looking for her daughter (Thurston's younger sister), intercut with Barry going crazy.

The way the scenes go in and out of each other, the way the music swells in the background, the anarchy that hits the party, and the car crash that ends it all, is devastating and wholly engrossing. I don't think I looked away during that entire sequence. That's the subtle magic of this movie. I didn't realize how wrapped up in these characters' lives I had become until then, and the final voice-over really resonates.

Writer Michael Goldbach (âChildstarâ?) made his directorial debut with this film, and it's an impressive one. From a screenplay standpoint, while it tells me nothing new about the lives of teenagers and their angst, it does tell it in a very solid way. As a director he's more original and inventive, giving this story some refreshing new life.

Now, here comes massive, major, uber-huge SPOILERS, so if you want to see the film with as much freshness as possible, skip this paragraph. One of the major subplots is about a serial killer in this small town, taking and killing any child he sees. There's no real age continuity, from an elementary school child to a high school cheerleader, he's killing them all. It's an odd thing at first, but it never feels out of place. Each murder brings a new section about in the story, and we spend time witnessing the kids mourning their losses. This is addressed in the ultimate climax referenced above, and is only slightly satisfying. Yay, he's killed, but it's an accident actually (the car crash), and I wished for some more catharsis in that sort of thing. Still, this slight issue doesn't hinder the rest of the film.

*END OF MASSIVE SPOILERS*.

With three great lead performances and spritely directing, this is a huge surprise. I highly recommend people to seek it out.