So now we have the Nic Cage pattern. Every other year he makes a deranged scenery chewing spectacle. And the following year he takes what would seem like a premise for one of those deranged movies, and instead makes something shockingly deep and interesting. We had a crazy one earlier this year, so Dream Scenario is the contemplative one, better than it’s silly premise. I guess good ol’ Nic is finally doing ok financially since he’s making good creative choices again?
Here’s Dream Scenario’s pitch: “Nicholas Cage randomly starts appearing in everyone’s dreams.” Cage plays Paul Matthews, a tenured biology professor at a generic university. He lives a quiet simple life, with his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and two daughters. Paul’s anonymity turns into ubiquity, as soon everyone wants to know who the random guy is in their dreams. The meek professor quickly becomes a mini celebrity, which all sorts of marketers like Trent (Michael Cera) want to use to capitalize on Paul’s viral popularity, giving Professor Matthews a chance to finally get his book published.
Dream Scenario’s wacky premise hides what is especially the United States cautionary tale of the moment: maybe being famous isn’t all this it’s cracked up to be. Fame doesn’t care about the why, it only deals with the how. Paul’s initial fame is simply luck: by simply being there he’s part of a collective experience. He’s also a blank slate; there’s no history with him for anyone, so his fame is fun and exciting. As Paul evolves because of this fluke, so does his fame. It doesn’t go away; dream Paul warps and transforms, which people take out on the real guy. Few are outwardly hostile, most people simply quietly judge from afar. But even these little judgments multiply and threaten Paul’s current lifestyle, and as importantly, the lifestyle of his family. Paul’s societal disease transmits to Janet’s job, where she’s now a liability because of her relationship to someone who’s not liked anymore. Not everyone can handle the myriad of unexpected consequences that come with fame, so all those dreamers better really dig deep to understand if what happened to Paul Matthews is something they could deal with on a daily basis, as well as giving up life as you know it.
Not all of this is Paul’s fault, though. After watching Dream Scenario, it’s clear that writer director Kristoffer Borgli has, um, strong feelings about his time working for a marketing/advertising company. Borgli posits that marketers and advertising make a point to insert themselves whenever there’s a chance to make a few dollars. Most of the deliciously funny stuff has to do with Paul being pitched all sorts of ideas from ad execs trying to figure out how to profit off of him but make it seem like it’s a good idea. There’s all sorts of BS corporate jargon thrown around to confuse the clients (eg Paul) so they just sort of nod and agree to not seem stupid. When it gets down to brass tacks, these execs don’t care about Paul, they care about his fame, and will follow whatever narrative that will lead to the most profit. And once his fame is gone, he’s cast by the wayside, left to fend for his new life he has no idea how to navigate. And they move onto the next thing, which Borgli very amusingly concludes his movie with.
And through it all Nic Cage gives us a masterclass in a normal man’s descent into stardom. Dream Scenario builds a cool story around Cage’s committed performance, to give us a story that feels familiar but also excitingly modern. And in A24’s bit of corporate synergy, complete with Talking Head big suit in tow.