I Dream Too Much (2015) User Reviews

Kind of middling

[Red_Identity · 22 July 2016]

I do think this had the potential to be something really great. Unfortunately, it never gets there. It doesn't even come close. The acting in this is really fine and solid, and the characters have the outline for being great but what really stops the film from becoming that much more interesting is that the story doesn't always allow them to feel like real people, no matter how good the actors are trying. I don't just want to focus on the negatives however. It's still very watchable and walks a fine line between being obnoxious and endearing (just like its lead character, which I do admit I have to warm up to) but ultimately lands on the positive side. One can do worse than see this film, but one could also do better.

watch it in order to see Diane Ladd...she's amazing.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 April 2016]

"I Dream Too Much" is a film that impressed me because of the acting...and that's probably reason enough to make the film worth seeing for some of you. Diane Ladd might not be a name you recognize, though it's very likely you've seen her in films or television over the years. Now at 80, I can only say that her acting is like a fine wine...it's improving with age.

The film is about a rather odd college graduate who is ambivalent about applying to law school. Law school is really her mother's dream...and Dora (Eden Brolin) is much more of a dreamer and wants to experience life before considering doing anything as mundane as graduate school. But her mother is insistent...and Dora seems to feel that she might as well do as her mother wants without arguing. However, when Dora ends up going to spend time taking care of her injured Great Aunt Vera (Ladd), he plans and her outlook for the future end up changing significantly.

While Eden Brolin is quite likable in the lead, I was a bit disappointed in some aspects of the character she portrayed. At times, it was very easy for me to dislike Dora...especially when she gave out her Great Aunt's private diaries for others to read...and without telling Vera! This and a couple other thoughtless moments made it hard for me to love the film...a serious problem with the script. Still, with acting this good, it's not a film I want folks to neglect. It was nice to see how Brolin did in her first starring role and I can only assume she's learned a bit from her father, Josh, and her grandfather, James Brolin.

But the real star of the film was definitely Ladd. While she was a supporting character, she dominated all the scenes in which she appeared. She made her lines seem less like an actress reading a script and more like her actually being Great Aunt Vera. She was simply amazing to watch.

'I Dream Too Much' is a dream.

[bryank-04844 · 7/10 · 23 January 2017]

It's not too often that we see a "coming-of-age" film that features an almost all female cast. Usually, the coming-of age movies center around boys or young men. If and when women are the center focus, it usually involves some sort of relationship or romance with a guy. Refreshingly and fortunate for us, Texas filmmaker Katie Cokinos flips the genre on its ear with 'I Dream Too Much', which focuses on a college-bound young woman who discovers herself, while staying with her great aunt in upstate New York.

The film is lighthearted and easy going, with almost nothing at stake, but the dialogue between the college girl Dora (Eden Brolin) and her aunt Vera (Diane Ladd) is quite charming and fun. It worked for 'Gilmore Girls' and works here too. Cokinos puts the romance/relationship/drugs on the back burner here, and instead tells a story of Dora, who would rather be with her friends in Brazil before college, rather than have her overbearing mother force her into law school and to ace the LSAT. To escape the hell, Dora arranges an extended stay with her great aunt Vera (Ladd), who has just suffered a broken foot and needs help around the house.

I wouldn't go as far as to say Vera and Dora hit it off very well. In fact, Vera is as cold as the bitter New York exterior at first, but it makes for some witty and funny dialogue between the two. Soon, Dora fins a few letters and diaries from Vera's famous literary uncle who has passed, as Dora begins to spark some new life into her creative mind and soul. She even has visions and dreams in the style of Jane Austen from time to time, which this movie has a ton of references too as well. It's quite a charming film with some fun characters and decent dialogue.

There are some musical and funny moments when Dora meets Abbey (Danielle Brooks), who works at the local clothing boutique, and who wants to become a famous singer and get discovered by the big time music producer who lives in town. All these characters in their own way help Dora find her creative and expressive self, and it's a joy to watch, despite that there's just not a whole lot that happens, besides some great character transformations and development, along with some solid, witty dialogue.

Eden Brolin is a newcomer to the film world and she delivers a wonderful performance. She's as cute as she is witty, and portrays a very realistic and likable young woman, trying to figure it all out. She's one to watch out for in the coming months. Diane Ladd is of course amazing here and shows that she still has that incredible talent that she's shown us for years now. 'I Dream Too Much' is a solid film that's easy to take in.

RECOMMENDED!

Poetic and Intellectual

[glynn-66069 · 9/10 · 24 March 2015]

I had the privilege of attending the premier at SXSW in Austin and even had the chance to meet some of the cast members. Not an action-packed film by all means, but a poetic and intellectual story with added levels of complexity true to the relationships of women. They empower one another in different ways to help each other achieve their own dreams. At the same time, they also help each other through dark times which brought out the best in themselves. Crisp and white winter sceneries brought a sense of peace and serenity throughout the film. Veteran Diane Ladd's performance was outstanding with several up and coming actresses to look out for!

Wonderful Theme

[jeffreygenung · 8/10 · 27 March 2015]

This movie is light hearted, fun and has a solid message. It reminded me of Ann of Green Gables. The acting and story line are engaging. I'd like to see more movies like this being made that highlight women of substance.

There was one part that seemed as though it skipped ahead or somehow a scene was missing but overall the scenes flowed together seamlessly.

The story outlined in this movie helps shine light on the wonderful qualities of a strong-minded young women, especially when she is fortunate enough to find a quality mentor that can help guide but also grow from the relationship. Well done and highly recommended.

Highly Relatable

[donnafujimotocole · 9/10 · 24 March 2015]

I just loved being able to see myself in each of the women characters and highly recommend to all my friends and families to pursue your dreams even when you or others don't believe in yourself.

Diane Ladd's performance was stellar. Happened to catch Diane Ladd just before her press conference at the SXSW Austin Conference Center/ Meeting Diane at SXSW was an absolute joy she is so warm and personable.

Christina Rouner plays the Mom and as a Mom myself I could so relate to her performance made me cry. What a wonderful and talented actress!

What an awesome surprise that Danielle Brooks has such a beautiful voice and her song is very catchy.

Eden Brolin, filled the shoes well of a bored brat in the coming of age movie "I Dream Too Much".

Don't miss this film!

[leahbagger · 10/10 · 24 March 2015]

A real life coming of age film. The main character is 20 years old and has just finished college. Her close friends are embarking on different paths and her mom has her own dreams she wants her daughter to fulfill. The script is beautiful in that it captures real life experiences within family without being over dramatic or too Hollywood. I can picture myself as each one of the characters as a past, current or future me! The cinematography is spectacular. The snowy scenes are dreamy and frequently capture an artistic sense that moves your heart with memories that may not be yours! Don't miss this warming peak into these charming characters' lives.

A winning gem of a movie!

[relaxalot · 9/10 · 5 July 2016]

As someone who craves movies about interesting people and who has no love for movies about "superheroes" or movies that glorify violence I was delighted to see this lovely heartfelt movie "I Dream Too Much." The movie revolves around a charming young woman played winningly by Eden Brolin who has a unique presence void of clichés and who has a fertile imagination which serves her in navigating her post college path. Her counter point in this movie is her irascible Great Aunt played with great charisma and conviction by Diane Ladd who is a standout in this production. The movie is shot in Saugerties, New York which is captured beautifully by DP Alex Rappaport. Writer/Director Katie Cokinos has made a movie you can enjoy for it's subtle currents of evolving sensibilities about the things that matter in navigating the contours of lead character Dora's life and may remind all of us about the importance of what we already have when we are searching for what we desire.

young girls thoughts put to use through a dreary winter

[annemei-138-320688 · 9/10 · 10 April 2016]

I thought this was a very good movie about coming of age. It touched on a lot of themes that are relevant. It had a varied cast but I especially liked that the main characters were women and held the movie by themselves without really revolving around a man or men. I would like to see a lot more of this type of movie in Hollywood, what a great change that would be. I felt all the actors did a great job and I was definitely impressed with Eden Brolin since it was her first film. One could not tell that, she seemed polished, did a wonderful job. The cinematography was beautiful showing the frozen Hudson River and other pretty sights in the wonderful small town in upstate NY of Saugerties. It made the movie feel homey and inviting. Thanks so much for enjoyable entertainment.

Themes that everyone can relate to!

[danettewilson · 9/10 · 1 July 2015]

I recently saw this film and the characters all resemble someone I know. To be on the cusp of being a child and a woman and all that that entails. I know what it's like to be in that time in your life and feel like the world is rotating around you and you're just standing there. It's hard to become a productive adult and hold on to that child like abandon. This film shows the main character becoming a woman and getting over her fears. It was cast very well. Every actor seemed to fit seamlessly into this world. The characters were thoughtfully fleshed out and purposeful. They also all showed me that no matter what age, people are still dreamers and still struggle with following their heads vs. their hearts. The writing and directing expressed that very well. I liked the music (I'm a HUGE music lover) and the photography was gorgeous! Great watch!

A lot of fun...

[bfdf-10147 · 9/10 · 26 March 2015]

Saw this film at SXSW '15. Very well acted and directed with great performances from all of the lead actresses and James McCaffrey. Also, some exceptional cinematography that showed off an area of the country that you don't see much on the big screen.

I kept waiting for Dora to fall in love with some random townie boy. Never happened, which was a pleasant surprise for its simple novelty. The focus was on this young woman and the other women in her life: grandmom, mom, and the new best friend.

All in all, a lot of fun. You find yourself with a smile on your face for the duration of the film.

Charming coming of age story for multiple generations of women

[agoodrow · 8/10 · 20 July 2015]

What a treat to see the many, many faces of super talented Diane Ladd in the context of a coming of age story with a diverse cast. Danielle Brooks shines - breaking all stereotypes with her powerful performance. Eden Brolin makes her film debut as a naive millennial trying to find her way out of the nest of a helicopter mom who has choreographed her life up to college graduation. Viewers can relate to the inspiring mentor relationship between Vera (Diane Ladd) and Dora (Eden). Millenials and their grandmothers will be pleased to see the bond between generations. The sweeping cinematography captures the wintry chill of Saugertes, New York in a chilly, frozen time of the lives of the characters. Be surprised by new talents and new energy from the music and poetry.

Coming of age story with sweet screwball twist

[lisakat · 9/10 · 6 September 2015]

If Eric Rohmer hailed from New Jersey or Texas he might have conceived a character like Dora — a charming, pretty, bright young woman whose true desires remain somewhat inscrutable — particularly to herself. Being American rather that French, writer/director Katie Cokinos has made Dora a striver, but given her protagonist an irresistible screwball twist: Dora has a gift for throwing herself into others' dreams and aspirations.

Yet, much like a Rohmer film, I DREAM TOO MUCH creates a self-enclosed social world whose mores and details are rendered with delicacy and subtle humor. Alex Rappoport's cinematography is stunning. The lush yet pristine snowy landscapes capture the fairy tale quality of both Dora's inner life and the Hudson valley. Winter becomes more than a season, almost a character whose stillness allows Dora to change within. Diane Ladd gives a tour de force performance as Dora's great aunt Vera — an imposing figure whose forthrightness, romantic past, and seeming incapacity to maternally dote on her grand niece prove to be just what Dora needs to jump start her life.

There is a sweetness that suffuses I DREAM TOO MUCH that's rare to find in family dramas these days and seems to harken back to an earlier period. It imbues the film with a graceful, uplifting tone — almost a glow — that makes this sensitively directed film about inter-generational relationships between women feel timeless. The target audience for I DREAM TOO MUCH, which includes women of all ages, will surely look forward to Cokinos' next film.

Something for everyone

[englishkam · 9/10 · 20 July 2015]

Dora (Eden Brolin) wishes she were somewhere else, but ends up right where she needs to be. Great Aunt Vera (Diane Ladd) pines for the love of her life, but finds new hope with family and friends. Abbey (Danielle Brooks) owns a shop, but finds her lifelong dreams are within her reach. Everyone dreams too much...but is that a bad thing? This film is a lighthearted romp through the post-college, what-do-I-do-with-my-life malaise shared by most artists and thinkers. There's authentic dialogue, and the characters are real people.

With a stellar cast, breathtaking cinematography, great characters, and one-liners that elicit real laughs--this is a must-view for everyone!

Wonderful woman's coming of age story, creatively navigating in the real world

[ruthaflaherty-295-446423 · 10/10 · 26 July 2015]

What a delightful adventure. I was swept up with Dora as she explored her world after college and admired the way the film showed young and not so young women learning how to creatively navigate in the real world. It is rare to see a coming of age film revolving around a woman particularly right after college graduation. With a light touch, this film explores serious questions that any creatively minded person explores while entering the real world and all the opportunities that brings and shuts out. It touches on the courage necessary, along with imagination, inspiration, belief in one's self, etc. that one needs in one's tool kit to make it as a creative person in the real, often cruel world.

Listen to Vera!

[chegomista · 8/10 · 25 August 2015]

Good movies make it look easy, and really good movies leave you shaking your head wondering how they did it. I Dream Too Much gives us a very young woman who suffers from severe indecision and her elderly aunt who suffers from severe regrets, and it does it without recourse to plot devices and acting choices that might make your teeth hurt. The story is simple and affecting, a deceptively plain frame enclosing greater depths than you'll find in a standard entry from the sub-genres it technically overlaps -- stories of mentors and protégés, crusty yet lovable old people, coming-of-age empties and so on. The makers of I Dream Too Much struck gold in casting -- it's hard to imagine anyone bringing more freshness and honest confusion to the young woman's role than Eden Brolin, just as it is hard to imagine anyone wielding a wise tongue and bitter wit with deadlier accuracy than Diane Ladd.

The writer-director, Katie Cokinos, clearly learned a lot from her own experiences of people at both ends of the generational divide. Brolin's character, like most 21-year-olds, can scarcely grasp the bliss of not knowing how many wicked tricks the future will play while it's swallowing the past; instead, she frets over what to do next, unsure of who she is. Ladd, in a fine, astringent late-career turn, looks back in anger as the memory of her late husband, a great writer and all-around dreamboat, is polluted by the Other Woman, now an author flogging a trashy memoir. It's a classic set-up: aunt and niece both have something of value to offer if they can only manage not to alienate and annoy each other half to death.

I Dream Too Much benefits a great deal from the choice of Saugerties, New York in winter as its chief location. It's a lovely place, seldom seen on film and full of dormant possibility through most of the film, suddenly released in breathtaking shots of rushing water in the last act. Finally, there is a terrific supporting cast that includes Danielle Brooks, Christina Rouner, and the great James McCaffrey (an actor's actor on this terraplane, an overpaid leading man in a zestier world we are not allowed to visit).

Small independent movie but very enjoyable for the acting.

[TxMike · 5 December 2016]

We found this on Netflix streaming movies. It has no box office data and appears to have been seen by relatively small audiences. The writer/director is a first-timer.

It is about a smart girl who is a recent college graduate at 20 and, encouraged by her rather pushy mom is studying for the LSAT exams. She will be a lawyer, a very good one ... or will she? Is that what she really wants?

The story explores her coming to grips with what she really wants to do. When her friends go off in the winter to frolic on beaches she volunteers to go to upstate NY to help her great aunt who recently broke her foot. Mainly to get away from mom's constant "How's the studying coming along?" But the encounters there, with her great aunt and others, helps her see the bigger picture of life.

The great aunt is Diane Ladd (nearing 80) as Vera who had been married to a successful author. The college graduate is Eden Brolin as Dora.

This is the first time I had seen young Eden, daughter of Josh, and during filming she probably was really 20 or 21. I came away very favorably impressed, she looks great on camera and has good, natural acting chops. The movie succeeds or fails on her performance and in my opinion succeeds very well.