Not Just a Dream

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** It really bothers me that people have such a hard time with this movie. They hate the end because they think it's only a "dream." The movie begins with, Sophia saying, "open your eyes." I don't take this as wake up, it's only a dream. To me it's something David needs to do in his life. He is half awake not really understanding consequences of his actions. His a rich spoiled man that imagines the world as his playground. This is easily done, since everyone allows him to function this way. He only knows the sweet, his friend is constantly telling him that it doesn't taste as good without the bitter. David's life is charmed, he needs to open his eyes and have some real responsibility. He treats Julie like crap, but only because she lets him. Everything that happens is because people let David act the way he does. Suddenly, David's world is not what it seems. If you just want to use the phrase, "it was all just a dream," fine, go ahead, but it's more than that. He had an opportunity to "dream" all the perfect dreams that he wanted to. To have a life with Sophia, a perfect life with a woman that for one night helped open his world up. Instead, he lets his sub conscience play nasty tricks on him. He cannot have the perfect life with Sophia, because he does not believe he deserves it. He gives himself a serious case of the "bitters" in order for him to understand how sweet life really was. The movie gives us, the audience what we need, an explanation. He ties up all the loose ends for us and yells at us to open our eyes. Everything David did had consequences, he was protected from them because he had money. Julie took that comfort away from him when she drove her car of the road. She shattered his perfect world and in her own way, screamed, Open Your Eyes. His eyes seemed slammed shut for such a long time. I loved this movie, everything about it. It was well acted, I usually don't like Penelope but she was very likable. The idea that true love can exist is so sad when you realize how much it will always haunt Sophia. What would have happened if David never got into that car. Would he and Sophia had been together? Would Julie still have killed herself? David would never be able to open his eyes if his face and world weren't shattered. I recommend this movie to anyone that believes in the possibility of true love and the idea that everything we do, small or huge has an impact on someone else.