Cassandra’s Dream

Woody Allen returns to not-so-merry England for this lively, noirish story that will remind many of his acclaimed Match Point from 2005. In this feature, Ian (Ewan McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) are siblings with financial problems. Ian works at his family’s restaurant business and wants to impress a pretty actress (Hayley Atwell) by landing a lucrative real estate deal, while Terry has huge gambling debts. The brothers get a chance to take care of their problems when their Hollywood surgeon uncle (Tom Wilkinson) enlists them to kill a business partner, which leads to a whole slew of troubles and temptations. Terrific acting, a tightly wound story and questions about morality and the darkness of human nature help make this one a winner that should appeal to Woody and non-Woody fans.

Shelf Talk: Following in the footsteps of Scoop, Allen’s previous effort (and a lightweight one, at that), Cassandra’s Dream barely registered at the box office in its limited theatrical release. Happier days will no doubt greet the gloomy but haunting movie in its DVD incarnation. Though Allen’s latest muse Scarlett Johansson is conspicuously absent this time (Woody is not in it, either), McGregor, Farrell, Wilkinson and stunning newcomer Atwell should be enough to draw interest among sophisticated viewers.