Dream Lover

Starring:James Spader, MÃ¤dchen Amick, Fredric Lehne, Bess Armstrong, Larry Miller, Kathleen York, Kate Williamson, Tom Lillard, William Shockley, Carl Sundstrom, Irwin Keyes, Joel McKinnon Miller, Joseph Scoren, Archie Lang, Clyde Kusatsu, Alexander Folk, Michael Chow, Talya Ferro, Sandra Kinder, Peter Zapp
Director: Nicholas Kazan
Studio: USA
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Disliked it five years ago, still don't like it today!
The Director Turned A Simple Play Into Something Amazing!!!
Amazing version, Great for Classroom
A Midsummer Night's Entertainment
Bewitching&Dreamy

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Starring: Kevin Kline , Michelle Pfeiffer , Stanley Tucci , Rupert Everett , and Calista Flockhart
Director: Michael Hoffman
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305622876
Release Date: 2003-04-15

Amazon.com

Imagine a work by Shakespeare reduced to one of those pretty, glossy coffee-table picture books that have only a dollop of text alongside its sumptuous photographs, and you might have Michael Hoffman's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This all-star version of Shakespeare's comedy is gorgeously shot in Tuscany, complete with a magical forest, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful villas, picturesque villages, stunning period costumes--oh wait, there's supposed to be a story here, too! Hoffman hijacks Shakespeare's basic premise but doesn't instill it with much more than surface shine and transplants it to turn-of-the-century Italy. Ergo, it's left up to the actors to find the heart and soul of this classic play, in which the fairies of the forest play mix and match with four young lovers, courtesy of a magical love potion. Hoffman couldn't ask for better (or better looking) actors to play Shakespeare's dreamlike love games--Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Anna Friel, Dominic West, the list goes on and on--but he sure as heck doesn't know what to do with them, aside from putting them in various states of undress. Only Flockhart (as the lovestruck Helena), Tucci (a sprightly Puck), Pfeiffer (dazzling and funny as the queen of the fairies), and especially the sublime Kline (as weaver-turned-donkey Bottom) seem to connect with their characters in ways that make this adaptation occasionally soar; the rest are inexplicably left to flounder. Hoffman does seem to set himself right with the film's climax, when Bottom's amateur acting troupe hilariously enacts the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe (it helps that the troupe includes Roger Rees, Sam Rockwell, and Bill Irwin). Those searching for a more in-depth exploration of Shakespeare's farce might do better to look elsewhere, but if it's gorgeous actors and scenery you're in the mood for (along with an evocative opera soundtrack), and an all's-well-that-ends-well ending, this Midsummer Night will give you pleasant if weightless dreams. --Mark Englehart

Description

A stellar cast, headed by Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline, bring Shakespeare's romantic comedy to life. When two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a feuding pair of supernatural sprites and a love potion gone awry all come together in an enchanted moonlit forest, the result is a delightful mix of merriment and magic. Also starring Calista Flockhart, Stanley Tucci and Rupert Everett.

Customer Reviews:

Disliked it five years ago, still don't like it today!.......2007-06-13

Saw this when it first came out and hated it; watching it again, in hopes of using it in a class, and again I find it tedious and uninspired. It has all the right parts, in terms of actors (though I must confess to disliking Stanley Tucci's Puck), but the conception is busy, pretentious, and sadly missing the spirit of the play! As another reviewer said, if you haven't read much Shakespeare or seen much on stage, you may like this film. If you have read Shakes, and seen good stagings of this and other plays, you'll find it to be two very tedious hours. I still think I"ll use part of it in class, though, in comparison with at least one other filmed stage performance (the Royal Shakespeare Company's), just to spur discussion about updating and interpreting Shakespeare!

The Director Turned A Simple Play Into Something Amazing!!!.......2007-05-31

We first began to read Midsummer Night's Dream in school a few days ago. Then we watched the beginning of the movie (this one). I found the play extremely bland to read. The actors brought it to life! The director was best though, using modern items while keeping all the original text from Shakespeare, nothing has been orally changed. This movie is PG-13 but only idiots would hold it from anyone over 10.

Amazing version, Great for Classroom.......2007-05-09

This is a great supplement for anyone teaching Shakespeare Comedies. The acting is supperb and the sets bring the story to life. It is great seeing American actors trying their hand with the Bard's craft and doing it well.

A Midsummer Night's Entertainment.......2007-05-06

This film adaptation of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a star-studded and workable translation of the original play. It has a movie's freedom of action with respect to sets. The story moves easily from a Duke's luxurious Italian villa being prepared for a wedding, to a forest where two sets of lovers undergo a comedy of mistaken emotions thanks to feuding among groups of ethereal spirits, to the small town outside the villa where a group of workers is preparing a play to present at the wedding. The sets are sumptious, attractive to the eye, and suitable to the story.

The cast is truly star-studded, all with very solid movie credentials, although few with real chops for a Shakespeare play. Kevin Kline easily steals the show as the hapless Bottom, an over-the-top actor who is bewitched by the spirit Puck (played with mischevious good humor by Stanley Tucci) into a love affair with the Queen of the Fairies (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). Rupert Everett is solid as a spirit who while in search of revenge on the Queen unleashes much of the magical mayhem in the forest. Calista Flockheart seems least up to par as an hysterical Helena, one of the star-crossed lovers in the forest,

Perhaps the best portion of the movie is the play within a play, as Kevin Kline and his ham-handed fellow troupers struggle to put together their play. The audience cannot help but feel sympathy as they wrestle with lack of talent, uncooperative sets, and the unintended consequences of improvisation. Their determination is rewarded by an unorthodox but ultimately successful presentation that earns them the sincere compliments of the Duke.

This movie is recommended to fans of Shakespeare who are prepared to forgive the uneven efforts of a large troup of actors for an ultimately entertaining story.

Bewitching&Dreamy.......2007-05-04

What a lovely adaptation. And they did mostly stick verbatim to the play... Ok, so they may have taken some liberties, ie the setting (though the landscape is very like it should have been) the bicycles (though they are charming!), &the 'mud wrestling scene, which was truly ridiculous, but was obviously added for the benefit of the many boyfriends and husbands who were dragged to the flick by their wives or girlfriends! I love this film, and watch it over & over. Pair it with the delightful 'Much Ado About Nothing' and '12th Night', and you'll find yourself doing the same & memorizing the books so easily!

Average customer rating:

Dream Lover
Starring: James Spader , Mädchen Amick , Fredric Lehne , Bess Armstrong , and Larry Miller
Director: Nicholas Kazan
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001VTPUE
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Description

How well can you really know the one you love? OscarÂ(r) nominee* Nicholas Kazan explores this question in his "sensuous, deadly game of romantic cat-and-mouse" (Roger Ebert) that features "terrific" (The Hollywood Reporter) performances by James Spader and MÃ¤dchen Amick and weaves "a tight web of suspense" (Playboy)! After a bitter divorce, wealthy architect Ray (Spader) fears he'll never love again until he bumps into sexy, sophisticated Lena (Amick) and sparks begin to fly. Before long, they are happily married and have a family. But when Ray's suspicious nature gets the best of him and he begins to investigate Lena's past, what he finds may not only threaten the state of their marriage but also Ray's life! *1990: Adapted Screenplay, Reversal of Fortune

Average customer rating:

Dream Lover (2002)
Starring: Ramsey , and Green
Manufacturer: York Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000640WJ
Release Date: 2002-05-21

Average customer rating:

Dream Lover
Starring: James Spader , Mädchen Amick , Fredric Lehne , Bess Armstrong , and Larry Miller
Director: Nicholas Kazan
Manufacturer: Polygram/Usa Home Entertaiment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305214646
Release Date: 1999-07-26

Pure Beauties: No. 1 Dream Lover of Japan - Kyoko Nishihara

Average customer rating:

Pure Beauties: No. 1 Dream Lover of Japan - Kyoko Nishihara
Starring: Kyoko Nishihara
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004YZET
Release Date: 2000-11-07

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