Dreamscape (1984) * * *

Directed by:  Joseph Ruben

Starring:  Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Eddie Albert, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, David Patrick Kelly, George Wendt

Of course Dreamscape isn't remotely plausible, but that is part of its charm.    Imagine if the only movies made were based on realism or mere plausibility, then we wouldn't have a lot of imagination or fun, would we?     Dreamscape isn't meant to be scrutinized.     It is a venture into the world of dreams and the subconscious, never mind the fact that most dreams aren't remembered at all, let alone this vividly.    That isn't the point.    The theme is the possibility that someone can enter our dreams, change them, and cure us of our ills in one fell swoop.    In many instances in Dreamscape, the cure comes after one intervention from a psychic.

The psychic is Alex Gardner (Quaid), who wastes his vast abilities on picking horse races and eluding gamblers to whom he owes money.    If he were as good at picking the ponies as the movie suggests, then he shouldn't owe money to anyone.     No matter.    That subplot exists so Alex can be compelled to reunite with a former mentor (von Sydow) who runs a government-funded project researching "dream linking".   Dream linking involves Alex and a select few others with his gifts to subjects suffering from horrific recurring nightmares.    A young boy is terrorized by a giant cobra.    One man has paranoid dreams about his wife's infidelity, which is played as comic relief.   And then there is the President of the United States (Albert), who dreams of causing a nuclear holocaust and thus plans to enter into a nuclear disarmament deal with the Soviets based on his fears.    (The film was made in 1984, during the Cold War in which such fears of nuclear holocausts were more prevalent than today).  

The President's announcement to his close confidant Bob Blair (Plummer) doesn't sit well with Blair, who, under the guise of concern, suggests the President take part in the research and assigns a psychotic psychic (Kelly) to assassinate him in his dream.     Alex, along with program doctor Jane Devries (Capshaw), learn of the plot and attempt to stop it, but not before Alex enters Jane's dreams in which she is seduced by Alex on a train.     You can't blame the guy for using his gift to further his relationship with the sexy Capshaw. 

Dennis Quaid spends three-quarters of his movie with a Jack Nicholson-like sly, devious grin on his face, suggesting fun mixed with the thrill of getting away with something.     He knows Dreamscape is silly, but he has a ball.    There is the undercurrent of seriousness involving the President's nightmares, which resemble horror stories in which nuclear fallout poisoned zombies chase him down blaming him for their troubles.    There are also rabid dogs with red, glowing eyes as well that are none too friendly. 

Quaid's antithesis is Plummer, who plays Bob Blair as an icy political powerbroker whose is "untouchable", which makes him somewhat more powerful than the CIA, but only slightly less powerful than God.     I wouldn't recommend turning him into an enemy, although his friendship isn't much more comforting.     I'm writing this review with the same type of grin Quaid possesses.    The film is silly.   Reviewing it even more so, but I can't say I'm not enjoying either.