By no means is Daydream Nation a perfect movie as it doesn’t quite hit the emotional notes but it’s still well worth checking out. Kat Dennings delivers a fine performance alongside a solid supporting cast who take the script up a notch. The Blu-ray unfortunately offers little in terms of features but the video and audio transfers are both very good.
Daydream Nation (2011)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Romance
Anchor Bay | R – 98 min. – $34.98 | May 17, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Mike Goldbach
Writer(s): Mike Goldbach
Cast: Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell, Josh Lucas
DISC INFO:
Features: Featurette
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 3.5/5
Michael Goldbach’s Daydream Nation is certainly heavily influenced by, as Variety put it, Donnie Darko with Juno sans Diablo Cody’s dialogue which I now consider obnoxious than cool or hip. But I would add in a little Easy A in the formula as the film does have a certain dark humor to it amidst the dramatic scenes.
This is a story most are familiar with. It centers on teenager Caroline (KAT DENNINGS) who has moved from the big city to a “backwards hick town” with her father (TED WHITTALL). She hates the town where the boys are idiots and the girls are ruthless as almost immediately she was being labeled a skank by fellow classmates.
There is one person in town that has caught Caroline’s eye: her literature teacher Mr. Anderson (JOSH LUCAS), who leads a loose classroom where the kids call him by his first name, Barry. So Caroline sets out to seduce him… with great and frankly quick success as Barry takes to her charms right away and the two start a clandescent teacher-student affair. Yeah, that’s going to end well… but not how you think.
But things get complicated, as they always do in these types of films, when Caroline also has a suitor closer to her own age in Thurston Goldberg (REECE THOMPSON), a reclusive teen on the verge of going emo but not quite there yet. Poor Thurston is haunted by the death of one of his best friends but finds solace with Caroline. Now Caroline is confused as she’s having great sex with Mr. Anderson but nothing else outside of that but finds a deeper companionship with Thurston.
Set against the teen drama and Lolita-esque seduction is a serial killer on the loose in the area targeting young teen girls. The killer has been seen dressed in all white and has caused terror amongst the small town folk. This is actually an interesting subplot which does come to a head in the third act in an unpredictable, albeit convenient, way.
The front cover has a quote from an unnamed critic at Variety comparing Daydream Nation to Donnie Darko and Juno and while sometimes these quotes go a tad overboard in how they portray a film, in this case the comparison is actually valid. I was quite surprised after watching the movie. It’s not as powerful as Darko (it is more mainstream by comparison) or as hip as Juno (I’m not missing some of the obnoxious dialogue, however) but thanks to yet another brilliant performance by rising star Kat Dennings, it does stand out amongst some of the other independent films.
The assembled supporting cast is also well done. First, Reece Thompson plays up the weird kid in school well enough and not in the creepy manner (a la Wes Bentley in American Beauty) with enough charm that it would be believable our main character would be drawn to him. Then you have Josh Lucas playing up the clichéd teacher who has the affair with his student but his character goes deeper as his own psychological issues come to the forefront. Lastly is Andie MacDowell who is making her rounds in independent film circuit with Daydream being her, according to IMDb, fourth film of 2010 (and three more scheduled for release in 2011). Her character isn’t anything special, just a mother concerned for her son and his emotional issues, but she does have a couple good scenes.
Daydream Nation is the directorial debut of Michael Goldbach (and second screenplay following a 2004 indie comedy) and for the most part it’s a solid debut. He obviously takes some cues from Donnie Darko but manages to put his own stamp with the dialogue, the teen life (albeit taken up a level) and a dramatic/comedic ambience that stays consistent throughout.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1/5
Unfortunately all we get here is a short Behind the Scenes of Daydream Nation (6:41; SD) which only gives a glimpse at how the film was made. It would’ve been nice to at least have a cast/crew commentary…
There are previews for Happythankyoumoreplease with Kate Mara and Kill the Irishman starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken.
VIDEO – 4.5/5
Daydream Nation is presented with a 1.78 aspect ratio and 1080p high-definition. While it’s not as finely defined compared with other recent releases (I barely noticed any film grain or even noise) but it is detailed nicely enough with a good array of well balanced colors that don’t go into the extreme either way.
AUDIO – 4/5
The Blu-ray comes with a decent DTS-HD Master Audio track which shows off the numerous amounts of indie songs as well as composer Ohad Benchetrit ambient score and the dialogue is pretty clear throughout. It’s not the greatest lossless track I’ve heard but it’s certainly good enough.
OVERALL – 3.25/5
By no means is Daydream Nation a perfect movie as it doesn’t quite hit the emotional notes but it’s still well worth checking out. Kat Dennings delivers a fine performance alongside a solid supporting cast who take the script up a notch. The Blu-ray unfortunately offers little in terms of features but the video and audio transfers are both very good.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 05/06/2011
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2.