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At its core, “Dreamland” relies heavily on a storyline that is not unique, and like other subpar films, does not do a good job of weaving everything together. However, the film comes rather close to achieving success due to Margaret Robbie being casted in the center role. This might not be shocking news- from “The Wolf of Wall Street,” where she played her first prominent role, she has managed to grab the audience’s attention and has proved her skills in both comedic and serious roles through “I, Tonya,” “Mary Queen of Scots,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and “Birds of Prey.” While this film may not go down in history as particularly glamorous, “Dreamland” reminds its viewers about the importance of well-known personalities in contributing towards the success of a film, even with poor material, but only up to an extent.
Set in 1935, Eugene (Finn Cole) lives on a dilapidated farm in a small Texas town grappling with the Great Depression, drought, and dust storms. He lives with his mother (Kerry Condon), headstrong step-father George (Travis Fimmel), younger half-sister Phoebe (Darby Camp), and half-Hans Christopher. His biological father fled years ago, leaving only a postcard from Mexico as a means of contact. The only real excitement in Eugene’s life comes from the carefully constructed stories wedged in pulp detective magazines. However, everything changes when George discovers the all-but-abandoned barn and finds Allison Wells (Robbie), a wanted bank robber on the run after a failed heist resulting in the deaths of five people and a bullet lodged in her leg.
He bandages her wound and listens to her relate her version of the events true, she did commit bank robbery, but that was in a defiant reaction against the banks that had seized her family’s house and she swears that she did not murder anybody. Eugene understands her suffering certainly, the fact that she appears as if she has come out from one of his sordid tales does help a bit and so he begins to try to do what he can to assist her, which ranges from smuggling food and a dress to her to breaking into her to the police station and stealing the evidence that incriminates her. What he wants is to get his hands on a car for her so she can make her escape to Mexico. He ends up accompanying her when the time comes, motivated by thoughts of a more wonderful life with the woman he has fallen for – although she did make it clear that her sentiments for him are not at all romantic, at least at first, she does not pretend to be above using them for her benefit when the occasion calls for it.
From the beginning, it is evident that screenwriter Nicolaas Zwart and director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte’s film aims to pay tribute to certain aspects of renowned filmmaker Terrence Malick’s style, most notably in “Days of Heaven”. This is evident in the setting which takes place during the “Great Depression”, the lovers on the run after a committing a crime, the voiceover by the sister that is played by Lola Kirke and many other scenes that seem to have been filmed during the so-called golden hour in oder to paint the surroundings more beautifully. But there is a very thin line between “poetic homage” and “lazy reinterpretation,” and this film seems to stumble over it time and again. While Malick, for instance, was able to craft this material into pure cinematic poetry, it feels as if much effort has been put in here, but it only renders the affectations more clunky and distracting which only serves to underscore the cliches in the material.
There are a host of flaws with the film as well. The major relationship of the film, which is between Allison and Eugene, never quite works because while the former is active enough to spice things up whenever she is around, Eugene is quite frankly a bit of a bore. This makes the later scenes where it looks like Allison is deeply falling for him incredibly implausible. This is most prominent during what is without question the strangest bit in the film, a lengthy shower sequence that feels as though it came straight out of some Skinemax special is utterly unshocking. The combination of two-thirds of the expected golden hour until the end of the film feels all too unreasonable. Not only is the scene longer than any shower has a right to be, it comes so late in the proceedings, for vendor shows that it stops the story’s speed at a near grinding pace at precisely when it needs to smack the audience with an enormous idea-hugging climax and not escape them.
While Robbie (who also served as one of the co-producers) is doing everything to garner further interest in “Dreamland,” which sinks below the level of aggressively mediocre, “Dreamland” struggles to do this on its own. It is no mystery where the film is heading towards, including her character. However, she does add a little personality which makes it more intriguing than it really is. If nothing else, “Dreamland” showcases the skills Robbie has as an actress and as a movie star of the highest order. Most likely, nearly all of her films showcase her skills, and in those cases, they happen to be better films as well.
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