Fear and Redemption in Dreamcatcher

Warner Bros.
2003

Rose Pacatte, FSP

Stephen King, author of the book on which Dreamcatcher is based, has many fears: fear for others, fear of others, fear of death, fear of insects, especially spiders, flies, and beetles, fear of closed-in places, fear of rats and snakes, fear of deformity, fear of squishy things and lastly, fear of the dark. Almost all of these fears are present in Lawrence Kasden's new film Dreamcatcher, and he puts a "face" on each one and often gives them a name. Who would have thought that Kasden and King would team up to produce one of the most frightening, gross-out, "shining" and effective movies of the year so far?

Lawrence Kasden has an impressive filmmaker's resume' as writer, producer, director (e.g. The Big Chill, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Accidental Tourist and The Bodyguard.) About half of Kasden's movies are definitely action flicks while the other half are characterized by a relatively low key sense of hope and humanity. In these, people talk to each other about "deep" things. Grand Canyon remains one of my personal favorites and it also addresses the problem of evil in the world and the meaning of life.

King's writings and subsequent films are characterized by "action" as well, but as expressed through fear, gore and horror while they explore the consequences for the lack of human kindness, guilt, and our utter lack of control over cosmic forces, especially evil ones. One distinctive element of King's works, however, is his theology that Kasden has interpreted for the movie. Films such as The Stand, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption (Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption), Dolores Claiborne, and Stand By Me (The Body), show his theology, his "faith seeking understanding" in a scary world. For me, his themes of life, death, redemption, the symmetry of justice and the comfort of knowing that human relationships can endure beyond the worst fears a person can have, are often worth the read and filmic experience. Dreamcatcher has all these elements and more. Whatever you do, though, don't look for a literal catechism. Concentrate on the parabolic dimension, if you can.

Dreamcatcher is the multi-linear story of four young men who grew up together in a place called Derry, Maine. As adolescents they rescue a seeming retarded boy from the cruelty of some high school bullies. His name is Douglas (Donnie Wahlberg), but because he cannot speak clearly, the boys "hear" something that sounds like "Duddits" and that's what they then call him. When a young girl from the local school for children with learning disabilities goes missing, Duddits communicates a kind of supernatural power to his friends, and they are able to rescue her. Jonesy (Damian Lewis) thinks Duddits says he wants to save the world and tells him, no - that's for later. Right now they are only trying to save a little girl. The boys can now read each other's minds - and those of others. They are "normal" adolescent boys - and all that this implies. In fact, they remain so throughout the movie since gross-out, sexual humor seems to be the stereotype for male bonding in American cinema. But these are children who know right from wrong and choose the good. They face their fears and help those who are weak. They are heroes.

Fast forward twenty years. The gift Duddits gave the boys is still with them in troubling ways. Henry (Thomas Jane), is a psychiatrist who does not seem very good at his job. He is depressed and almost kills himself but is rescued by a call from Jonesy who wants the four friends to get together for the weekend. That same day, Jonesy thinks he sees Duddits across the street and when "crossing over," is struck by a car and almost certainly killed. Though he recovers, he ponders what really happened - and is happening. Pete (Timothy Olyphant) is a charming, innocent and psychic car salesman. Beaver (Jason Lee of Mallrats fame) may seem the least successful of the group but he is the one with the biggest heart. Six months after Jonesy's accident, the four gather for a reunion at their cabin in Maine, as they have done for the last nineteen years. Enter a snowstorm, a distressed stranger, two of the men trying to get "home" to the cabin from the trading post, aliens and alien hunters and things really start happening. A nightmare.

Colonel Curtis (Morgan Freeman) is the head of the U.S. Army's "Blue" team that has been hunting aliens anonymously and autonomously under the radar for twenty-five years. His faithful lieutenant, Owen (Tom Sizemore) begins to realize that Curtis is losing his grip on reality. The colonel uses the handgun that John Wayne had given him as a personal gift a little too easily. Though suave and controlled, Curtis has become cruel.

There are numerous complex turns in this stark, winter tale that becomes a saga of the redemptive sacrifice of love: blood for blood. Lots and lots of blood. Duddits is the central character though we do not see very much of him until the end when it really matters. He is both prophet and redeemer. He is the "dreamcatcher" (a Native American talisman) that protects the boys/men from their nightmarish fears and danger. He absorbs the evils of humanity and the cosmos into his own suffering and death - and by the end lets the good dreams shine through. The incarnational aspect of Duddits as a Christ-figure a la' King, is obvious.

There are few women in the film, but Duddits' mother understands his need to accomplish what he has been sent on earth to do. She lets Duddits, now suffering from leukemia go with Henry because she understands there is a sense of destiny about this strange man.

Given the times we live in and the real threat of war (that may begin before this is printed), it is hard not to parallel the role of the military in this film and the dodgy ethics that Col. Curtis and Owen are willing to employ to save the world their way. The E.T.'s (extra-terrestrials) are back and we don't know why - or as Curtis says, "they never visited a world they didn't want to own."

In Stephen King's 1990 book On Writing, readers were finally given a glimpse into his life. It is the one Stephen King book I devoured in a few hours. I wanted to know what made him tick - and I think the book gives a sense of this besides some great tips on writing (mortal sin: the use of adverbs!) King led a solitary childhood in Maine, was raised by a single mother who made many sacrifices for Stephen and his brother, and he married a wonderful woman, Tabitha, who helped him survive and overcome bouts with drug abuse, alcoholism and near death when he was hit by a pickup truck on a lonely road a few years ago. King also had religion, and however he experienced Christianity, its themes are present and often discernable in his plots. One writer thinks King's theology or idea of God is puritanical, and I suppose this means harsh, unbending and distant. Perhaps Stephen King is on a spiritual and religious journey to discover just what his view of God is, because my sense is that he does not accept a puritanical notion of God and is struggling to identify a God who is near, transcendent and who in involved in the affairs of men and women on the earth.

Dreamcatcher revisits many of King's previous story landscapes but as a film it works because the plot and visuals play out in a mostly comprehensive way on so many levels and uses parallels structure so creatively. Curtis is insane and the antithesis of Duddits, who seems mentally retarded but saves the day. Jonesy is a psychological Jungian treasure-trove. We spend a lot of time with one of his "shadow" selves inside his head, his "memory warehouse" filled with references to popular culture and boxes with "broken promises." We spend even more time with him as he struggles with himself as the incarnation of evil. Will kindness and human goodness save the day, or military force run amuck? And what of the theme of guilt that runs through the movie? Though it is very prominent, I am not sure it is ever explicitly resolved. Is it because the young men have not contacted Duddits for so long or not used his gifts well?

It is to Kasden's credit that he has turned out a talented piece of filmmaking that encompasses drama, science fiction, horror and comedy genres. It is acted by characters we care about and leveled with a firm drip on script, direction, and production. The visuals and special effects are gross and credible; the alien weasels are pure gore and will be with you forever or at least all night. Dreamcatcher is a distilled version of about a 600 page book, so it is understandable that there will be some loose ends, but I think it is up to the individual viewer to decide what those are. The references to S.S.D.D for example, may have been the key to the whole thing or a red herring.

Stephen King once said, "People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them that I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk." He also said, "It's better to be good than evil, but one achieves goodness at a terrific cost."

At the City of Angels Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2001, Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) told screenwriter Scott Derrickson that people go to horror movies because they area already scared. And since film stories have a beginning, middle and an end, viewers can come away with a sense that they now have some control over their fears.

Dreamcatcher is not a film for the casual filmgoer. And if you are already afraid, you will want to think twice about how much more scared (and grossed out) you want to. If there's a dreamcatcher around, you may want to hang one up before you leave the house. And don't forget your night prayers.