User Reviews

The American-Canadian thriller "Mean Dreams" (R, 1:48) is one of two posthumous film releases for Bill Paxton (in addition to 2017's "The Circle", in which he has a small role). When Paxton died suddenly of complications from heart surgery at the age of 61 early in 2017, celebrity expressions of sorrow struck one consistent chord, well represented by Arnold Schwarzenegger's tweet that Paxton "could play any role, but he was best at being Bill – a great human being with a huge heart." In Paxton's most famous roles, he was an ordinary, basically decent guy caught up in extraordinary circumstances (as he was in "Apollo 13", "Twister", "Titanic" and "U-571"). He was also very good at playing tough and/or morally ambiguous characters (as he did in "Aliens", "A Simple Plan", "Edge of Tomorrow" and his award-winning HBO series "Big Love"), and some of his best work was as a basically bad person (as in "Weird Science", "True Lies", "Frailty" (which he also directed) and "Training Day", the TV series he was acting in when he died). "Mean Dreams" is another great example of Paxton playing against his true personality.

In this film, Paxton plays Wayne Caraway, a rural Michigan police officer and single dad, who is pretty bad at both roles – and a pretty bad person in general. When local boy Jonas Ford (Josh Wiggins, the star of 2015's "Max") starts seeing Wayne's teenage daughter, Casey (Sophie Nélisse, who played the title role in 2013's "The Book Thief"), Wayne is pretty… mean about shattering Jonas' dreams of getting closer to Casey. Mostly it's because Jonas isn't shy about trying to protect Casey from Wayne's abuse, and because Wayne doesn't want Jonas nosing around and discovering any of his other... activities.

After Jonas fails to get his father (Joe Cobden) or Wayne's boss (Colm Feore) to intervene on Casey's behalf, he takes matters into his own hands. When he witnesses an example of just how bad a man that Wayne is, Jonas steals some money, grabs Casey and hits the road. Of course, Wayne comes after his daughter – with a (literal) vengeance. As Jonas and Casey struggle to get away from Casey's dad for good, they confront the harsh realities of life on the run (especially as it pertains to two teenagers in the middle of nowhere), break some laws and put their safety and the safety of others at risk along the way.

"Mean Dreams" is a small, but entertaining coming-of-age movie. The two teen protagonists aren't quite Bonnie and Clyde, but their saga is engaging and their love story is affecting. Nélisse and Wiggins are two rising young stars whose emerging talents shine through in sympathetic roles and Paxton does his usual expert work as one really bad dude. The script (by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby) and the direction (by Nathan Morlando) keep the action and dialog both unusually grounded and fairly unpredictable, especially for this kind of film. The score and the cinematography (filmed creatively and beautifully in northern Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie) are also very good, especially for a movie made on a small budget. The film is a bit lacking in gravitas, but it's worth a look – to see Paxton in his last major role – and for the overall quality of the film itself. "B+"

Greetings again from the darkness. It was one month to the day since the shocking news that Bill Paxton had died when I sat down to watch one of his final two movies (the other being The Circle, which hits theatres in a few weeks). His searing performance in this low-budget drama made me realize just what a gaping hole he leaves in the film world … and how fitting that his character is the antithesis of Paxton's real world nice guy persona.

Director Nathan Morlando opens with a shot of a peaceful stroll through rural prairie land, providing no indication of the quietly intense misery that is coming. Jonas (Josh Wiggins) is a teenage boy working daily on the family ranch when he meets Casey (Sophie Nelisse), the new girl in town. The two quickly hit it off, and connect in a way neither has before. Jonas soon realizes that Casey's cop dad (Paxton) abuses her, and spontaneously can shift between country charm and frightening intimidator.

Writers Kevin Coughlan and Ryan Grassby do a nice job of using minimal dialogue and subtle interactions to round out these characters. Paxton plays a corrupt cop who is an alcoholic and abusive dad, and a man overly protective of his daughter and distrusting of outsiders. Casey is played by Sophie Nelisse, who was so good in The Book Thief (2013). She is a smart girl who fears not just her father, but also a life that may prevent her from ever seeing the ocean. Josh Wiggins plays Jonas as a strong-willed young man who believes people should do the right thing, especially for their loved ones. Wiggins made a terrific film debut in 2014's Hellion.

There is a lot going in this little independent feature. It's a coming of age story, and a reminder of the anxiousness of youth and the power of first love. It's also a disturbing story of a rotten-to-the-core man who has lost his way (if he ever had it). Lastly, it's a chase movie that features a blend of beautiful and harsh scenery – filmed mostly in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario. There is a tremendously tense sequence shot with the limited perspective offered by the covered bed of a pickup truck; and it's a contrast between two youths trying to escape their situation, and two bad cops with little redeeming value. Maybe we've seen similar type movies, but never one with two excellent young actors and a menacing performance from the late great Bill Paxton.

The movie was well acted and surprisingly enjoyable. It kept my attention, which is hard for most low budget indie films.

"She needs help. I gotta do something." Casey (Nélisse) has just moved into town and finds a friend in Jonas (Wiggins). The two begin to spend an awful lot of time together against the wishes of Wayne (Paxton), Casey's abusive dad. When Jonas tries to help Casey a series of events occur that alter the lives of all three involved. This is a movie where, going in, I thought it had the possibility of being very slow and drawn out. I can't say I was completely wrong but it did move a little quicker than I expected and did have a story that kept me engaged the entire time. There were a few surprise aspects in this, but for the most part it was pretty predictable. The real reason to watch though is for Paxton. He plays a character so unlikable and it really adds to the tension of the movie as you are almost willing the kids to get away from him. Overall, nothing mind blowing or amazing but this is worth a watch and I liked it more than I expected to. I give this a low B.

Bill Paxton is menacingly great. The two leads have good chemistry and their love felt pure and authentic. Paxton's daughter sharing her painful and violent family history, and her boyfriend's reaction to hearing it felt raw and I connected to it. The movie's scenery is so relaxing and beautiful. Even the on-the-run parts were fine, until the rushed, disjointed, predictable final 36 minutes... I wish they had cut out some of the drama and ended the movie with the lovebirds on the bus riding into a new and unknown future.

As far I know, there's a thin difference between Canadian films and the US. Just like the Hong Kong's Cantonese and the Chinese Mandarin films are. They exchange starts and crews, but most of the Canadian film I've seen were French language. Those English films are not as popular as the Hollywood's on the world stage. Lots of good films go unnoticed like the recent film 'The Confirmation' I reviewed a few months ago. If this same film were made in Hollywood, would have been considered an average. But for the Canadian standards, I mean they usually won't make the big budget fancy films, hence it is so much better.

This is a coming-of-age thriller drama. Revolves around two teenagers as they run away with a bag full of cash from their parents. It all begins with a girl, who arrive in a small town with her father. Soon she makes a friend with her neighbour boy. His parents are neglect kind when it comes to him, and her father is an alcoholic, abuser, as well as a dirty cop. One day her father comes standing between them, that's the opportunity they were looking for to run away, since being with their parents has not been any good. But her father is not in the mood to let them go as his money was involved. So the running and chasing game begins.

You might say, you have seen this story in all the similar themed films, no matter its Hollywood, European or the Korean. That's what I thought too, but still it is a very good film. I'm not expecting it to impress you as well. If it does, then that's great. But it all depends on your taste in films, quantity of films you watch regularly and most importantly your expectation from it. It was like another 'Cop Car', but there's no car involved in the core of the plot. It's all about the money and the mad-cop father. It looked kind of western style, or the tale that very much suitable for the humid California settings.

❝It's no ocean, but it's ours.❞

In this, it was always cloudy, wet and chilling moisture atmosphere where all the chase takes place. The great locations that avoids to get in any major town/city. Other than 3-4 main cast, there's no one else. Because most of the scenes are between the boy and the girl and sometimes her cop father in isolated places. There's a dog in the film, but not focused enough to classify it as a dog film from one of the angles. The pace of the narration was so fast with not too long or very short overall runtime. It had many twists and turns, yet definitely you would predict most of them.

Nice performances, by both the youngsters. As usual Bill Paxton nailed it in his negative role. It was one of his final films before his death early this year. It was a small appearance, but a prominent role that I surely would remember it for him. I was not anticipating anything extraordinary. But when I learnt about its synopsis, I thought I understood everything about the story there itself. Though watching it in the film was a different experience and one of the reason was, it is a different cast and atmospheric setting.

I felt they should have improvised in some of the parts, but at the end I'm satisfied being what it is. Especially in the initial stage, the intro was so simple and skips fast to the next stage. I did not fully understand any of the characters about their earlier life events to the point where this story commenced. But going forward, I started to have an idea, seeing how the tale has progressed. That really helped to come to the point directly.

There are no smart scenes like the film characters to take measures to counter the threats in a fancy way. That's done mainly to impress the viewers. This screenplay tried to be realistic as much as possible, but there's a couple of scenes that could only work in cinematic. I think that's sometimes necessary for a film. After all it is a film and made for entertainment purpose, not a documentary feature. But overall film was much better with enough tense moments and interesting developments. Lots of good films released in the last 12 months and this is not one of them, but considering it is from Canada, surely it is. Because I've already given the reason for that in the very first paragraph. So thumbs up for it from my side.

7/10

A very nice last film for Hollywood icon, Bill Paxton. Good movie

of young love, a daughter being on the run from your corrupt father, who just so happens to be law enforcement, and

Blaze the dog...just loved him. Overall a decent film of boy who meets girl,

boy steals from girls abusive father, boy and girl and now on the run for

their lives. Nothing new here, but this review is more about paying respect to

the late Bill Paxton, who I thought was just hilarious is Aliens and

Predator 2. Overall great story and acting by these those young actors

Sophie Nélisse and Josh Wiggins. Highly recommended to anyone who likes

a good story and wants to pay homage to Paxton. RIP Bill.

As a low-budget thriller/drama, I came into this film with modest expectations. I was very delighted to be treated to a well-acted film with an incredible landscape (filmed in Ontario).

The acting was perfect. Sophie Nelisse has the makings of a world-famous box office smasher someday. Josh Wiggins was superb in his lead role. And the late great Bill Paxton played his role flawlessly.

I will not include any spoilers as to why I'm "only" giving it an 8 out of 10, but I will say that this indie thriller is definitely worth watching.

Rest in peace, Bill Paxton.

Casey Caraway (Sophie Nélisse) is new to the rural community. Her mom is dead and her dad Wayne (Bill Paxton) is a volatile corrupt cop under the chief (Colm Feore). She befriends her neighbor Jonas Ford (Josh Wiggins). It's first love. Wayne disapproves and threatens Jonas.

The kids are acting their butts off and it's one of Paxton's last films. It's basic Romeo and Juliet stuff. The kids are very good actors. Paxton is beautifully menacing. The plot is mostly very simple. There is a visual style to the movie despite its limited budget. It is punching way above its weight. I do wish the Ford farm house is more visually interesting. There are instances where the limitations do show. The intensity needs to ratchet up a notch or two to make this a truly great indie.

Mean Dreams is every adolescent's worst nightmare. Or maybe it's horrible scenarios like this that prepare youngsters for the real world, and build character. Or perhaps they just turn them into the same bitter, violent adults they're trying to escape from, only to perpetuate the circle. In any case, it's an ugly, somber story, scarred by the harsh realities some teens face on the road to adulthood. It's ironic in a way that this is Bill Paxton's last role in cinema, and I wish it weren't, because he plays an absolute monster. For anyone who's met him or seen interviews, he was the sweetest dude you could ever hope to meet, and wouldn't hurt a fly, but he always chose tough scripts that made memorable, challenging films and this is just one more. Here he plays a lawman and single father who moves his daughter (Sophie Nelisse) out to a desolate county, brought to life by stunning, haunted rural Ontario. Once there, she finds her only friend in a local rancher's son (Josh Wiggins), and it's not long before romance begins to flourish. Not on Paxton's watch though, that angry drunk prick. Abusive, dangerous and up to his neck in illegal activities, it's only a matter of time before he gets one of them, himself, or everyone killed, and Wiggins hatches a plan to get the both of them out of there and on the run to better lives. Trouble is, where do you turn for help in a town whose only police officers are not there to help you? Paxton has a bitter ally in the Police Chief, venomously played by Colm Feore, and the dragnet they lay over the county threatens to ensnare the two teens at every turn. Wiggins and Nelisse are excellent, especially for their age, playing the character development with all the right notes, even when things get tense between the two of them, a facet of their relationship that's nice to see and brings out shades of maturity in the writing, touches that this type of film begs for. Paxton is scary, tragic, broken and brutal, a soured man who shows occasional flickers of the father he once must have been, and despite the ugliness, it's some of his best work in a while, particularly during a positively poetic final confrontation. The cinematography from Steve Cosens lingers in the long grass until you can hear the mournful echoes of a region beset by economic despair, a place where danger breeds easily and is always just on the horizon, an uneasy mood also perpetuated by Son Lux's unconventional score, which finds the spark of first love amidst the strife. Downbeat, but hopeful stuff.

A cops/sheriffs gone bad film! A law enforcement officer is raising a daughter under strict ownership conditions because the mother died years ago when she (the daughter) was very young. What happened to her mother? You'll have to watch this movie to see. It's loaded with 'on the edge of your seat' and 'nail-biting' suspense and anticipations. You really never know what's going to happen next, a mystery in a way. Just like another viewer says, it's unpredictable. I'm going to recommend this movie to my young, 12 year old cousin and her family because she likes thriller and horror movies. I think because she's coming into her teenage years, she might enjoy this movie as well. We watched a horror movie called 'The Shallows) together the other night and she enjoyed it, went back to tell her family about it and they watched it together the next night. Sometimes I often wonder about age-appropriate movies, but she wanted to watch horror and we allowed it. The Shallows wasn't that horrific though and neither is this film. Just give it a go! I think you'll enjoy it! This is what I would consider a low-budget, B-rated flick, but it's done well.

The story starts off OK.But than the action of the two main characters just becomes so stupid,that you start yelling at the screen. Some of the scenery is quite nice,but it doesn't save the movie from being the low budget movie that it is.

Another thing that bugs me is,you don't really get a feel for the town or its people.It's just the two teen and their families, everyone else,what little there is of other people.Are just vague background noise.

I miss some indication about how old they are suppose to be The girls does a fairly good acting job but,they both come of like they are really quite young,barley in their teens.

********Warning spoilers***********Warning Spoilers********* There's a scene when they are on the run,and are staying in a motel room.The dog start barking madly at the door,cause the sheriff is driving around the parking lot,with a dog whistle.They act all causal about it,like the dogs loud barking is no big deal.Just do a superficial check of the area,until the very last minute. No sign of them worrying about other guests or anything.

Don't be fooled by the other guy,who claims there is sex in the movie.There is none,they are both minors

Actually I didn't expect lot from this one in the beginning but after watching it I am delighted that I found a hidden gem in it.

This flick impressively maintains it pace as well. Teenagers were brilliant in their roles specially the male character.

For the given budget this movie got lot to offer . I bet you will find complete package of drama, thriller, crime, romance in this one. So it's worth to give a shot at it....

While this movie is merely okay judged by itself, it is definitely a lot more watchable than what Canadian filmmakers usually churn out. Maybe part of the reason for that was that *none* of the screenwriters of this movie were also the director. That means there is a lot less self indulgence in the direction and writing than what you may be expecting. That's not to say that the direction is without bite - I will admit that the atmosphere of this movie is fantastic - you really feel the chill in the air, the somewhat impoverished signs of human civilization, and that these characters are really stranded alone in a nowhere place in this big planet of ours. The cast is also good; while Paxton, as expected, is great, the no-name supporting players are also pretty convincing in their performances. Unfortunately, the intended impact of the entire package is severely lessened by the fact that the movie can't seem to find a palatable tone for the most part. Most of the movie plods by extremely slowly, and the remainder parts of the movie feel quite rushed and lacking full explanation for their plot turns. Had the movie both given that needed explanation and had been executed with an overall tighter pace (though not TOO quick in speed), we might have had a real sleeper of a movie. There is still enough merit in the movie to make it worth a look, but I suggest you seek out a free way to watch the movie to increase your chance of enjoying it (as of this writing, the movie is available for free on Tubi TV, at least in Canada.)

Mean Dreams is a nifty neo-noir set in Canada. Northern Ontario near Sault Ste. Marie to be more precise. The film centers around Casey and Jonas, two lovers on the lam from Casey's abusive cop father played brilliantly by the late Bill Paxton in his last role before his untimely death. The film invoked memories for me of Nicholas Ray's "They Live by Night" 1948 and Robert Altman's remake of the film called "Thieves Like Us" 1974. But the film may be closest to Terrance Malick's "Badlands" 1973 where Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen were the two lovers on the lam after murdering Sissy's abusive father played by Warren Oates. But comparisons can continue as it allowed me to recall the quirky "Moonrise Kingdom" directed by Wes Anderson.

Lovers on the lam is old theme most famously portrayed by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the ill fated lovers "Bonnie and Clyde" 1967. Both Casey and Jonas, played by Sophie Nelisse and Josh Wiggins, both of whom we are liable to see more of, are good in this film. Starting out as young and naive they quickly have to grow up as Jonas gets caught up in a drug deal gone wrong that was set up by Casey's father. Indeed how do you go to the police when it is the police that are bad guys. Colm Feore plays the other bad cop. You just know that none of this going to end well even if the lovers are somehow seen as getting away in the end.

The film is well-acted. It develops slowly and builds. We get to like Casey and Jonas and do really hope they escape the abusive father (Paxton). It's an indie neo-noir film worthy of being amongst the many neo-noirs that come out over the years. One of the biggest stars in the film is the landscape of Northern Ontario from the lakes, the fields and yes the small towns that prevail up there. Seeing the gorgeous landscape made me want to take a trip back.

I love Bill Paxton's acting and expected soooooo much more than this slow, boring drawn out waste of time.. and as with most train wreck movies.. it had an ending that was so disappointing I couldn't believe Bill Paxton had anything to do with it. I would rate it ZERO stars if I could.

On the whole, this is a very good movie all round. The four main cast members are superb, and the story is heavily character-driven, with no ridiculous stunts and special effects present to drown the characters out at any stage.

The lean score and graceful cinematography allow the story to be told at an ideal pace, and aren't used to lift the intensity as one would expect with this genre because the story is good enough to take care of this on its own. I never felt as if things were dragging or being rushed, and things were largely unpredictable aside from the ending, which was satisfying nonetheless.

For a good vs bad theme, the story favors neither side over the other in terms of skill and resources. So often the bad guys are made to look like fools but this isn't the case here, which I found to be quite refreshing. The teen romance side of things is handled better than almost any other examples I've seen. There aren't any cringe-worthy moments at all.

In all, Mean Dreams was much better than I expected, and well worth the time I spent watching it. If you're after a low budget thriller which is well made, character-driven, and intelligently written, you could settle for much worse than this one.

I would give the drama 9 stars, but in short I find the movie without story.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Mean Dreams" (2016) is a highly involving drama / thriller set almost in a middle of nowhere in USA. While the story here isn't the most original, it was done so good that i was involved into this movie from the opening till last shot.

Acting by all three leads were great. And i have to admire once again of the late Bill Paxton - he was simply outstanding here in playing one of his most mean characters ever - what a terrific and legendary character actor we lost - still can't believe it.

Writing, directing were also first rate as well as brilliant cinematography - it kinda gets you right in to this place - brilliant camera work.

Overall, is a great underrated gem. Its a drama thriller with not the most original or unique story which have seen before, but its just done so well that its hard not to recommend this movie.

S l o w - and not "good slow"... held my attention, barely. Well-acted, but that's not enough. I'm glad all the Bill Paxton fans on here are thrilled with his last effort and all, but, my God, there is barely enough drama to support 60 minutes of film, let alone four hours' worth... Oh the movie wasn't four hours long? It sure felt like it was!

Everyone talks about Paxton in one of his final films and he does a fantastic job as a bad guy, no doubt his acting was superb. This film in general is a diamond in the rough. The young actors portrayed and told a wonderful story.

From the moment they met and walked away from each other and looked back over their shoulders at each other, you definitely felt the connection to the characters. The story is told in a way that makes you want to continue watching the film, and you care a lot about the characters and the journey they want to take. It's nothing incredibly deep, but more so than a lot of other indie movies in its class, it stands out. I think Paxton serves as a good back drop for the younger talent before him and I can only imagine he himself was impressed and only wanted to promote the younger actors.

It's an awesome story with a beautiful landscape, and a tribute and representation of what love really is and should look like between two people.