Review of Dream House (2011) by Brett C — 04 Jul 2012

I sat on my couch confused on what this film wants to be, does it want to be a psychological thriller, or a drama thriller or an action drama. Throughout the film it goes through all three of those genres which is very annoying and frustrating as it keeps the film from being at least above average.

The good things about this film are Daniel Craig and the first half of the film. Daniel Craig did a great job in his role as Will Atenton. Craig was able to put some personality into the character and make him very interesting. Craig was not once over the top or underwhelming even at the start of the film where his character is just seen as a father and a spouse.

Rachel Weisz in the film was decent. The chemistry she brought with Craig was believable, which made sense because in the real world Craig and Weisz is married to each other.

The first half of the film is like a block after block of build up and twists. You learn a lot about the house, the connection to the family occupying the home and the mystery of the neighbor's place in this eerie situation.

The problems in this film is abundantly in the second half of the film where the tone just changes completely and the psychological element that made the first half so damn thrilling is gone. I was really hoping that the film's climax would deal more with Craig's mental situation and his connection to the home.

Naomi Watts plays as the neighbor named Ann Paterson. I don't want to spoil anything but her presence in this film is minimal and unnecessary. Naomi Watts played her correctly and fine but the range that Watts is able to perform in is very small, it's disappointing.

There are a couple of scenes which in my opinion that was unnecessary or cheesy. The gang of teenagers scene or the ending with Craig and his family. In the end, I would watch it one more time for the interesting first half but after that I most likely would never watch it again. Give it a rent or wait for it to come on T.V, because it isn't worth owning.