This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The first must-see film of the year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

"Cassandra's Dream" reminds me of those one-off stories we used to get on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Over time, Woody Allen has come up with more than one drama in the vein of Hitchcock or Polanski."Cassandra's Dream" came out shortly after "Match Point" and had a similar vibe with luck, fate and a touch of Dostoyevsky playing a part. It was also in Woody's British phase - the heavy-handed "Scoop" separated the two. Mind you, it's not as good as "Match Point". Woody tried some of the same twists, but they weren't as fresh this time around - and it's hard to beat a film that had Scarlett Johansson in that kind of form.However "Cassandra's Dream" isn't as bad as some critics would have us believe.Brothers Terry and Ian, played by Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, are a couple of lads who are full of schemes and live beyond their means. They buy Cassandra's Dream, a yacht they can't afford. Their financial situation is further depressed when Terry incurs some potentially fatal gambling debts and Ian falls for a high maintenance actress. They need money and lots of it. They turn to rich Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson). However he asks for an unexpected service in return: the termination with extreme prejudice of a rival. One thing leads to another and eventually even the close brotherly bond between Terry and Ian becomes compromised.The ending is a bit of a downer. Maybe Woody wasn't seeing any silver linings at the time. "Match Point" was saved because we were put in the position of identifying with a totally self-serving character who gets away with it. "Cassandra's Dream" on the other hand forces us to identify with a couple of losers who don't get away with anything.Farrell and McGregor play well off each other and there are beautifully observed characters throughout the film. Familiar British actors add a touch of quality: Jim Carter as Terry's boss, John Benfield as the Dad and Phil Davis as the man Uncle Howard wants out of the way.The script lacks the sizzle of "Match Point" or "Blue Jasmine"; we wait for the insights, but they are few and far between. However Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor make "Cassandra's Dream" watchable - even if it is just once.

I thought this film was mediocre. I used to be a Woody Allen fan in the 1970's with films like Annie Hall, Play It Again Sam, and Sleeper, so mostly comedies, with sharp dialog.However, Cassandra's Dream just falls flat. I found the acting to be thin. Ewan Macgregor was hardly believable; it seemed like he had trouble doing the stupid things his character was doing. Colin Farrell as his brother had some good moments, and then some moments where he just was not believable. The most disturbing character was Ewan's girlfriend, whom he suddenly falls in love with after one meeting? This wench/slut who seems to have a shady life. Come on, after 2 times Ewan decides this girl is the best thing that ever happened to him? Maybe that was Woody being Woody, but it was hard for me to relate to that emotional shift.You could definitely feel that this was a Woody Allen dialog. Lots of thoughts and emotions and I should haves and I love you and I hate you and pulling you emotionally left and then right. But the acting didn't deliver, and the plot just never grabs you.Tom Wilkinson and Colin Farrell's girlfriend did a decent job of acting, but the Uncle's choices, again, were difficult to believe. As to the ending, I don't know why people thought it came suddenly. This movie had to end somewhat tragically, because there was really no place left to end it, and it was Woody moralizing about human behavior.All told, I'd skip this unless you are a big Colin Farrell and Ewan Macgregor fan. You may be somewhat entertained by their acting, despite the weak plot. As for me, I prefer to stay awake and skip my trip aboard the sinking ship called Cassandra's Dream.

As someone who really likes, often loves, a lot of Woody Allen's films, there's always a debate on the boards for his films about what film was his best and what was his worst. And Cassandra's Dream is almost always mentioned as his worst or one of them, some going as far to say it's one of the worst films ever made, has one of the worst scripts and that it seemed as if it was made in haste. For me, Cassandra's Dream is nowhere near among Allen's best, in fact it's one of his weaker films, but it was not as bad as I'd heard it was. There are problems, the ending and the script being the biggest issues. The ending is way too rushed and not as tight as it could've been, it just seemed incomplete and with loose ends. The script has its moments of thoughtfulness and tension but this is really not one of Allen's tightest and observant scripts(one of his weakest possibly, but overall there are far worse scripts than this) with some of the speeches on whether murder is moral sounding really clunky and the asides on inevitability and fate coming across as self-conscious. Some of the pacing is tedious and structurally it did seem as though the film was written in haste. Much of the story is compelling though with scenes with tension that you can cut with a knife, the best scene from personal perspective was the one under the tree in the rain which was beautifully shot and the writing had its spark too here. The cinematography is fluid and suitably macabre, Allen's direction has degrees of assurance and while a little too loud and unfitting at times Phillip Glass' score is unmistakably minimalist and incredibly haunting, especially the murder theme. The acting has gotten mixed opinions, some saying it was great, others saying it seemed under-rehearsed. I'd go as far to say that mostly it was the former, apart from some dodgy accents(Colin Farrell's sounded like three rolled into one) and a few actors being underused, wish there was more of Tom Wilkinson. Ewan McGregor carries the film just fine and Farrell matches him in a turn that's funny and emotional. Hayley Atwell shone and Sally Hawkins and Clare Higgins, ever, dependable, are excellent. Tom Wilkinson is not seen much but he stands out in a chilling performance, advantaged by that he is a large part of why the scene under the tree in the rain worked so well as a scene. Sadly, Phil Davis seemed out of place and lost, not helped by that he had next to nothing to work with. All in all, Cassandra's Dream is disappointing and I do share some of the criticisms it's gotten but it does have many merits and is not as bad as all that. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell star in "Cassandra's Dream," also starring Tom Wilkinson and Hayley Atwell.Set in London, McGregor and Farrell play brothers Ian and Terry. Terry is a compulsive gambler who works in a car shop (Farrell), and Ian (McGregor) is helping his father out at the family restaurant but wants to do big things in the investment world.Terry is the wild one, a hard drinker who racks up 90,000 pounds of debt and has to go to a loan shark. Ian, meanwhile, uses the fancy cars where his brother works and talks big to impress a young actress (Atwell), with whom he falls madly in love.Their mother (Claire Higgins) brags constantly about her brother Howard (Wilkinson), the wealthy L.A. plastic surgeon, and Uncle Howard visits, giving the boys a chance to hit him up for money -- Terry for his gambling debts and Ian so he can buy into some L.A. hotels. That's fine with Uncle Howard, but he wants something in return. It seems he and his clinics are under investigation, and one of his associates, Martin Burns (Phil Davis) is ready to testify against him. What he wants in exchange for helping out is that his nephews kill Martin Burns.The brothers balk, and Terry absolutely refuses, but gradually both he and Ian come around and agree to do it.This is Woody Allen, so there is no Hayes code or old Hollywood ending to these types of films when he does them. As in "Match Point," Allen plays on the themes of fate, God, and here, the misery of life. What is it he said in one film, life is full of horror and tragedy, and it's over too quickly, and then he compared it with women in the Poconos complaining about the horrible food, and one says, yes, and in such small portions.In "Crimes and Misdemeanors," Allen explored the theme of guilt, and the Martin Landau character comes to a conclusion about it. Here, he explores another side of guilt while holding fast to the feelings expressed by Landau in Crimes, and not expressed -- but certainly felt -- by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in "Match Point." And he plays on the irony of fate in a way done in neither of the above-mentioned films. He's done Ingmar Bergman, now he does Dostoyevsky. I have no idea how Allen can be so incredibly prolific, but I'm so glad that he is, and that sometimes he's willing to be so deadly serious. Though "Cassandra's Dream" doesn't have the operatic highs of "Match Point," it's still a strong film, driven by an inexhaustible mind.