Dream A Little Dream

Back in the late 80's, the Corey's were quite the sensation on the big screen and hundred's of screaming girls. Now, for those of you unaniciated, the Corey's were Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. These two former child stars teamed up together and made a ton of films. Only three of these movies actually ended up on the big screen, while the rest went either right to video or cable. The first two films, The Lost Boys and License To Drive, were huge hits. But the Corey's couldn't ride the popularity train forever, and by the time of their third film, 1989's Dream A Little Dream, was released, their fame had fizzled. They were a product of the 80's, and when the 80's had ended, so did the reign of the Felddog and the Haimster. And a nation wept...for about 30 seconds.

In my last post, I wrote about a popular gimmick used a lot in the 80's, the cross dressing gender bender. Another popular trope was the body switching movies, which is what Dream A Little Dream was. After Like Father, Like Son, Vice Versa, 18 Again, and Big, it was hard for audiences to get really excited about another one of these. Especially since Big was so big. But leave it to the Corey's to put the final nail in the coffin of that genre, and of their career.

This one tries to put a trippy spin on the body swap. An elderly man, Jason Robards, has figured out a way to where he and his wife, Piper Laurie, can live forever in the metaphysical world. As they are attempting to enter this new world of existence, they end up switching bodies with two teens, Feldman and Meredith Salinger. The seniors end up in a coma, while Feldman realizes he is actually Robards. Salinger doesn't realize that Laurie is in her body however and it's up to Feldman to convince. If he doesn't the seniors will never regain consciousness. Pretty deep for a Corey movie huh?

I know I've been ragging on the Corey's throughout this, but I didn't hate this movie. Granted it's probably the weakest of their big screen releases, but it's not horrible. I think one of the reasons that audiences stayed away, other than being sick of the Corey's and body swapping movies, is that Feldman was the main star. I guess he was the most sober of the two at the time. Haim was the one front and center in their first two outings. In this one however he is just the wacky sidekick, similar to the role Feldman played License To Drive. I think in their earlier films, Haim came off as the more likable one.

The film has a pretty impressive cast and boasts a great supporting cast that includes Harry Dean Stanton, Alex Rocco, and Victoria Jackson. Rocco's son Marc directed. Kind of an odd film in his resume considering that he would go on heavier fare like Where The Day Takes You and Murder In The First.

If you are feeling a blast of nostalgia, you could do a lot worse than Dream A Little Dream from the Corey cannon. You could suffer thru Dream A Little Dream 2.

It's available on dvd.