Dreamworks ANNETTE Bening stars as Claire Cooper in director Neil Jordan's in Dreams. ike a bad dream @ In Dreams &* Starving Annette Bening, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn and Robert Downey Jr. Directed by Neil Jordan. Produced by Dreamworks. Julie Crawford Film Reviewer BEWARE the ides of January: the first month of the year is traditional- ly a crap-shoot, when studios dump their least-likely-to-succeed films on an audience too burnt out from the holidays to make informed choices. In Dreams is a disappointing jumble of lacklustre characterization, at times feeble dia- logue and standard serial killer fare. Te starts out promisingly enough, with slick underwater shots of a town, evacuated and deserted in the ’60s to make way for a water reservoir. Then we meet Claire, who dreams of this place, along with kidnapped little girls being led through an apple orchard and other things too grucsome to mention. Despite having psychic dreams her whole life, Claire chooses to dismiss the visions until her own daughter is snatched. Increasingly tormented, Claire is admitted to an asylum where her prophecies are largely ignored by the police, her husband (Aidan Quinn) and her psychiatrist (Stephen Rea, VOGUE & BURDA PATTERNS Allin store stock! *Members BUY 1 GET 2 FREE ofequei or lesser value SEWING NOTIONS Allpkg. stock valued to $12.98 ea. °Members with a jarring New York accent). Fast-forward to Robert Downey Jr, wear- ing a bad wig and never quite pulling off the kind of spine-chilling creepiness (a 1a Hannibal Lecter) required to scare us out of our seats. It turns out that Downey Jr.s char- acter, Vivian/Vivienne (the dircetor couldn't decide how to spell it, apparently) has been feeding Claire these dreams in the hopes of getting caught and finally obtaining a real family of his own. The problem with Ja Dreams is the main characters. Vivian has a shady, never fully developed mother fixation (better expressed in the original Psycho) and an unclear motive _ for becoming 2 scrial killer preying on young girls or fixating on Claire. Claire falls to pieces before we can find her relationship with her husband believable or feel any sympathy for her, an element essential to any truly scary thriller. Annette Bening does her best and manages to act with restraint, in spite of her character. Neil Jordan (The Butcher Boy, The Crying Game) should have employed the same restraint and omitted a few scenes (unneces- sary chases, the dog eating the carcass scene). These and others seemed to be thrown in as an afterthought to make the film seem more action-packed than it was. In Dreams plays like a bad dream: slick images that neither fit together nor make sense when you sce the light of day. @ Park & Tilford Cineplex 200 - 333 Brooksbank, North Vancouver (985 - S911): Stepmom (PG) — 1:15, 6:45, 9.25 p.m. Gloria (14A) — 1:45, 7:15, 9:50 pan Waking Ned Devine (PG) — 1:55, 7:30, 940 p.m. Virus (18A) —- 7:25, 9:55 p.m. Prince of Egypt (G) — 2:10 p.m. Patch Adams (PG) — 1:30, 7, 9:35 p.m. The Thin Red Line (18A) — 1, 7:45 p.m. B Esplanade 6 Cinemas 200 W. Esplanade, North Vancouver (983- 2762) A Simple Plan — Fri., Mon.-Thurs. 7:05, 9:40 p.m, Sat./Sun, 1:45, 4:20, 7:05, 9:40 p.m. You've Got Mail — Fri., Mon.-Thurs. 7:20, 9:50 pam. Sat/Sun. 1:50, 4:30, 7:20, 9:30 p.m. Varsity Blues — Fri., Mon.-Thurs. 7:30, 9:55 p.m. Sat./Sun, 2:10, 4:45, 7°30, 9:55 p.m. A Civil Action — Fri., Mon.-Thurs. 7:10, 10 p.m. Sat/Sun. 1:40, 4:10, 7:10, 10 p.m. A Buy's Life — Fri., Mon.-Thurs. 7:25 p.m. Sat./Sun. 2, 4:40, 7:25 p.m. Enemy of the State — 9:30 p.in. At First Sight — Fri., Mon.-Thurs. 7, 9:45 p-m. Sat./Sun. 1:30, 4:15, 7, 9:45 p.m. @ Caprice Park Royal South West Vancouver (926-6699) The Waterboy (PG} — 7:05 p.m. Star Trek 9 Insurrection (PG) — 7, 9:15 p.m. There’s Something about Mary (PG) — 9 p.m. Life is Beautiful (PG) — 7:10, 9:25 p.m. ® Fifth Avenue Cinemas 2110 Burrard at Sth, Vancouver (734-8700) Waking Ned Devine (PG) — 7:20, 9:20 p.m. plus Sat./Sun. 2, 4:15 p.m. and Tues. 4:15 p.m. Hilary & Jackie (14A) — 7:10, 9:35 p.m. plus Sar./Sun. 1:45, 4:20 p.m. and Tues. 4:20 p.m. * Vascular tonicity * Facial Blotches * Cellulite * Stretch mark *~ Wrinkles * Loss of Hair * Body firming * Stress control Photo Brian Hamill Sharon Stone stars in Gioria now showing at Park & Tilford Cineplex. Little Voice (14.4) — 7:15. 9:25 p.m. plus Sar./Sun. 1:40, 4:10 p.m. and Tues. 4:10 p.m. Life is Beautiful (PGi) — 7:05, 9:30 p.m. plus Sat./Sun. 1:35, 4:05 p.m. and “Tues. 4:05 p.m. Elizabeth (14A} — 7, 9:30 p.m. plas Sat./Sun. 1:30, + p.m. and “Tues. 4 p.m. (no show on ‘Thursday, Jan. 28) @ Park Theatre 3440 Cambie at 18th, Vancouver (876-2747) Shakespeare in Love (14A) — 7, 9:30 p.m. plus Sat/Sun. 1:30, 4 p.m. and Tues. 4 p.m. @ Varsity ‘Theatre 4375 West 10th at Thimble, Vancouver (222- 2235) Playing by Heart (subject t classification) — 7, 9:30 p.m. plus Sar./Sun. 1:30, 4 p.m. i Pacific Cinematheque 131] Howe Sc, Vancouver (684-3456) Something is rorten in the state of Denmark: Lars Voi Trier’s epic made-for TV masterpiece The Kingdom iJ (1997) is shewing this week- end, Friday, Jan. 22 through Monday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. cach evening with an intermission. Part 1 is 138 minutes long, Part 2 151 minutes. “If Stephen King and David Cronenberg were given creative control of ER, the result might resemible The Kingdom If, says Variety film crit- i¢ David Rooney. * Bags under eyes * Weight control . Fat “STOP SMOKING wee a ee == Laser Soft Tustitute 1565 Pemberton North Vancouver 986-0003 This coupon will give you the right to obtain 1/2 hr. FREE when booking 1 hr. Session. (limit one coupon per person) 9:30.07 11:00. 40%-70%98 1 1:06.07 12:30pm 30%-70%.255 12:30pm 2:00pm 25%-70% 255. 2:00pne Closing 0%-70%04