Dreaming Grand Avenue (DVD Review)
**”Dreaming Grand Avenue” is available on DVD from Music Box Films on Tuesday, September 21. This is a review of both the film and the DVD.**
It’s hard to know quite where to begin with “Dreaming Grand Avenue.” It’s a film where I like individual ideas in it more than I do the film as a whole. It has an imagination, but not the focus to put it together in a meaningful, emotional way. When that happens, one cannot help but feel adrift in what writer-director Hugh Schulze is trying to accomplish.
The film begins with Maggie (Andrea Londo) and Jimmy (Jackson Rathbone) on a train together. They notice one another, and they are slated to get off at Grand Avenue. When they attempt to get off, the doors open to images like that out of a dream. Sure enough, that’s exactly what they are in- a shared dream. In their waking lives, they are struggling with loss and a sense of lacking direction in life. But, they seem to be destined to meet, so Andromeda (Wendy Robie) and Jack Yancy (Tony Fitzpatrick)- who’s something of a dream detective- hatch a scheme to get that to happen. How will that translate to their waking life?
One look at the poster, and “Dreaming Grand Avenue” seems like it’s intended to be a film noir set in the dream world; there’s also elements of “The Adjustment Bureau” at work here. Unfortunately, none of that seems to be on Schulze’s mind. There’s much more than that- Maggie is struggling with her relationship with her family after her sister has died; she’s undergoing sleep studies because she’s not resting well. She’s dealing with a difficult mother at the daycare she works at, and grieves for the children who lose their lives daily because of gun violence. If the film were fully from Maggie’s perspective, giving her this much potential emotional struggle in the film might work, and Londo is game for it. Part of the problem is, because she’s a part of a pair of leads, there’s not as much time to develop this all in a cohesive way to make it effectively compelling. The same can be said for the character of Jimmy, an artist who’s struggling to find a place in a world that doesn’t really value artistic accomplishments. His emotional difficulties with regards to the loss of his father are not really fleshed out in any significant way. It also doesn’t help that Rathbone has a difficult time projecting any emotional turmoil as a performer, whereas Londo is a natural. Because of that, Jimmy doesn’t really come to life as a character, making any intended romantic connection between the characters feel forced.
“Dreaming Grand Avenue” never really surpasses its opening scene in visual and narrative interest. I haven’t even gotten to the noir detective subplot that doesn’t really add anything to the movie, even though Fitzpatrick makes Yancy an interesting gumshoe detective in his brief moments onscreen. I will say Chicago looks really lovely, but Schulze cannot really make that work to his film’s advantage. In a more streamlined emotional and thematic narrative, maybe this film would have connected more. Sadly, it bites off more than it can chew.
DVD Presentation
One of the first things I noticed is that, when I first began “Dreaming Grand Avenue,” the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack wasn’t working, so I started watching the film with the 2.0 track before switching back over, and finding the 5.1 track working. This was simply a fluke; I rechecked the disc on another player and it was perfectly fine. The cinematography by Christopher Rejano looks good as the film moves between different locations and lighting setups.
The bonus features are plentiful and quite interesting. First up is an audio commentary with Hugh Schulze; he’s a bit dry of a commentator, but overall it’s informative and entertaining. Probably the most compelling extras are about 12 minutes of deleted/extended scenes. I get why they might have been deleted for pacing issues and narrative cohesion, but even as they would seemingly muddy the narrative by adding more depth to Maggie’s sleep doctor character, they would have also added some intrigue to the dream state and dream world the film was so wanting to get us to buy into. We also get interviews with director Hugh Schulze and actors Andrea Londo, Jackson Rathbone, Wendy Robie and Tony Fitzpatrick. It’s fascinating to listen to these actors, as well as Schulze, discuss the film from their own perspectives. Even if I’m not a fan of the finished product, their words on it interest me a great deal. We also receive a theatrical trailer.
Film Grade: C
Audio & Video: A-
Special Features: A-
I wish I liked “Dreaming Grand Avenue” more. There are a lot of interesting visuals and ideas in this film, and the bonus features were enlightening. Sadly, it ultimately doesn’t work as it tries to be multiple things at once.
