JamesG
10-03-2011, 03:38 PM
Movie Reviews: Dream House
It’s always a bad sign when a studio fails to screen a movie for critics in advance of its release. But how bad could a film starring the likes of Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts and directed by Jim Sheridan really be?
Well, when critics finally had a chance to view the horror movie in theaters over the weekend, they agreed almost unanimously — it’s pretty horrible.
Who’s responsible? Numerous reports prior to the movie’s release indicated that Sheridan and the producers clashed over the final cut after test audiences panned it — and that Sheridan lost.
Nevertheless, it’s his name in the credits and many critics direct much of their scathing assessment of the movie at him.
Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News comments:
“Sheridan’s pacing is turgid and mournful, which lends the story … an air of ponderousness.”
Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times asks, “What on earth was he thinking?”
She describes Dream House as, “a haunted-house tale of gobsmacking foolishness.”
Mark Olsen in The Los Angeles Times remarks:
“Sheridan can’t ever quite get hold of the tone.”
Stephen Whitty comments in the Newark Star Ledger:
“There is something sad buried deep in Dream House, something puzzling and scary and maybe even dead. Unfortunately, it might be Jim Sheridan’s career.”
-IMDB News
It’s always a bad sign when a studio fails to screen a movie for critics in advance of its release. But how bad could a film starring the likes of Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts and directed by Jim Sheridan really be?
Well, when critics finally had a chance to view the horror movie in theaters over the weekend, they agreed almost unanimously — it’s pretty horrible.
Who’s responsible? Numerous reports prior to the movie’s release indicated that Sheridan and the producers clashed over the final cut after test audiences panned it — and that Sheridan lost.
Nevertheless, it’s his name in the credits and many critics direct much of their scathing assessment of the movie at him.
Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News comments:
“Sheridan’s pacing is turgid and mournful, which lends the story … an air of ponderousness.”
Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times asks, “What on earth was he thinking?”
She describes Dream House as, “a haunted-house tale of gobsmacking foolishness.”
Mark Olsen in The Los Angeles Times remarks:
“Sheridan can’t ever quite get hold of the tone.”
Stephen Whitty comments in the Newark Star Ledger:
“There is something sad buried deep in Dream House, something puzzling and scary and maybe even dead. Unfortunately, it might be Jim Sheridan’s career.”
-IMDB News