I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS [2015] [Blu-ray + DVD + DIGITAL HD] [USA Release]
Blythe Danner Shines in a Poignantly Funny Romance! Blythe Danner is a Revelation!
Carol Petersen [Blythe Danner] finds the everyday activities that have given her life structure — her regular bridge game, gardening, a glass of wine or two — have lost their lustre. With the help of her three quirky girlfriends Georgina [June Squibb], Sally [Rhea Perlman], and Rona [Mary Kay Place], so Carol Petersen decides to seek out new experiences, only to find love in places she least expected. Also starring Sam Elliot and Martin Starr. ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ is a touching and thoughtful film that the Associated Press calls "elegant, funny and entirely engaging!"
An instant audience favourite at its 2015 Sundance Film Festival premiere, ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ delighted critics and viewers across America, inspiring the LA Times to call it "that rarest of Sundance dramas ... starring a luminous Blythe Danner," while Vanity Fair noted that "Blythe Danner and Sam Elliott have a natural, sexy rapport."
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: 2015 Cleveland International Film Festival: Nominated: Best American Independent Feature Film for Brett Haley. 2015 Gotham Awards: Nominated: Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress for Blythe Danner. 2015 Satellite Awards: Nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture for Blythe Danner. 2016 AARP Movies for Grownups Awards: Nominated: Best Actress for Blythe Danner. Nominated: Best Grownup Love Story for Blythe Danner and Sam Elliot. 2016 Georgia Film Critics Association Awards: Nominated: Best Actress for Blythe Danner. Nominated: Best Original Song for Keegan DeWitt for Song: "I'll See You in My Dreams." 2016 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards: Nominated: Best Music Supervision for Films Budgeted Under 5 Million Dollars for Natalie Cervelli.
Cast: Blythe Danner, June Squibb, Rhea Perlman, Mary Kay Place, Aarti Mann, Martin Starr, Mark Adair-Rios, Ashley Spillers, Sam Elliott, Caroline Lagerfelt, Max Gail, Arthur Roberts, Harold Cannon-Lopez, Vic Polizos, Michael Yama, Kevin Wheatley, Shoniqua Shandai, Reid Scott, Malin Akerman, Jocelyn Ayanna, Linda Lee McBride, Patricia Belcher, Brownie (Hazel the Dog), Oscar (Beenie the Dog), John Beasley (uncredited), Bruce Cole-Edwards (uncredited), Justin Curtis (uncredited), Youlanda Davis (uncredited), Tessa Germaine (uncredited), Scott Golden (uncredited), Brendan Haley (uncredited), Brett Haley (uncredited), Kristen Huffman (uncredited), David Jankowski (uncredited), Carol Kline (uncredited), Aaron Kuban (uncredited), Lillian Lam (uncredited), Jordan Lawson (uncredited), Bruce Loveland (uncredited), Dan Mandel (uncredited), Jo Mani (uncredited), Sandy Mansson (uncredited), Jennifer Monce (uncredited), Manuel Pelaez (uncredited), Christian Prentice (uncredited), Jordan James Reyes (uncredited), Madison Rose (uncredited), Robin S. Roth (uncredited), Chuck Saale (uncredited), Maria Tomas (uncredited) and Seth Wayne (uncredited)
Director: Brett Haley
Producers: Adam Trahan, Bill Wallwork, Brett Haley, Ching L. McBride, Dallas Anthony, David L. McBride, Ele Bardha, Eliza Kennedy, Erik Rommesmo, Foster Chiang, Frank Gibson, Jan Miller Corran, Jason Kanjiro Howard, Jeff Rice, Jeff Schlossman, Joshua Ferris, Justin R. Williams, Laura D. Smith-Ireland, Lisa McBride, Mary Katherine Crosland, Matthew Lamothe, Patrick Millsaps, Rebecca Green and Wade Ellis
Screenplay: Brett Haley and Marc Basch
Composer: Keegan DeWitt
Cinematography: Rob C. Givens (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French
Running Time: 96 minutes
Region: Blu-ray: All Regions and DVD: NTSC
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Universal Pictures
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: In the film ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ [2015] Carol Peterson [Blythe Danner] has been widowed for 20 years, having lost her husband in a plane crash in 1994. Carol Peterson raised her daughter Katherine Petersen [Malin Akerman] alone, and now she has lost the only surviving piece of her old life, her dog Hazel. One would think that deep loneliness and sadness would be the most common reaction, but her own lack of sadness disturbs even Carol Peterson. Carol Peterson has her friends Georgina [June Squibb], Sally [Rhea Perlman] and Rona [Mary Kay Place], but there just doesn’t seem to be much zest in her dealings with them anymore. Carol Peterson goes through the motions, but the heart just isn’t there. Realising that something is missing from her life, Carol Peterson begins an unintended reimagining of her life.
Forming a friendship with the local pool boy Lloyd [Martin Starr], she gains a little bit of her old life back. Going out on platonic dates to the local karaoke bar, the two gain some much needed comfort and perspective from the other. Lloyd is frustrated and young, thinking there is nothing ahead of him in life due to the limited experience that he has had so far. Trying to live in the now, he can’t seem to find any happiness, except in the friendship with Carol Peterson. Carol Peterson, on the other hand, has lived a lot, seen a lot, and just can’t seem to reconcile the fact that there is anything left in life for her to enjoy. Meeting her polar opposite in the form of Bill [Sam Elliot], a retiree with a lust for life, Carol Peterson soon finds out that there is so much more in life, even with the limited time span she has left. Bill is vivacious, full of life and has no desire to waste what time he has left on this earth. Forming a whirlwind romance with Carol Peterson, he teaches the retired school teacher/singer that it’s not the amount of time you have left that counts, it’s all about what you make of that time.
I really enjoyed ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ as it resonated with me in a very personal way. I’ve watched family members live the rest of their ageing lives in a sense of despondency and futility. Thinking that their looming mortality means that there is nothing left for them. They see what they have LOST over the course of the years instead of all things that life has to offer. Carol Peterson fits that mould to a “T” especially at the beginning of the film. Carol Peterson sees her lost husband, her lost dog, her lost youth, and that depressing weight keeps her from enjoying what time she has on earth. This alone becomes too much for her and her spur of the moment friendship with Lloyd sets off a chain reaction that will change her life for the better.
Both the characters of Bill and Lloyd are charming and poignant, each unlocking a piece of her that the other couldn’t. I loved the chemistry that went on between Bill and Carol, as Sam Elliot is enough reason to watch any movie. I don’t care, but if Sam Elliot winks at you and asks you out on a date, then you GO for it! While Bill and Carol Peterson were solid, it was really an enjoyable relationship between her and Lloyd. I fully expected this to be a love triangle with Lloyd falling for the much older woman, but Brett Haley kept the relationship platonic, allowing for the two broken people to heal each other without the unnecessary trappings of a forced romance of the age gap. Lloyd offers her a sort of youthful freedom, while Carol Peterson can impart her own wisdom of trial and error, with both characters drawing support from the other in their own seemingly stalled life.
The film is a very slow burner, with a nice steady progression for Carol Peterson, but the only real flaw that I can take away from this viewing is that I did not want the film to end; it was that fantastic tour-de-force. It almost seemed as if the director didn’t really know how to tie up the ending of the film, and instead he just let it coast on until the end credits. Because we wanted to know of Bill’s fate, as well as Lloyds change in jobs seemed and what his future held for him, especially with is relationship with Carol towards 15 minutes towards the end of the film, rather than the actual ending, which left me feeling like there was just something waiting around the corner. It’s not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination, but the great crescendo never happens, which is ever so slightly disappointing. But what I did like is the songs that were used in the film and they were: “Ones Who Love You,” “Walking on a Dream,” “Trampoline,” “I Think We're Alone Now,” “Shotgun,” “Cry Me a River,” “Groovin',” “Don't Go to Strangers,” “Let's Be Still” and “I'll See You in My Dreams.” But what really moved me to tears is when Carol Petersen [Blythe Danner] sings karaoke in the bar live to the song “Cry Me a River” and it is one of the most emotional thing I have ever seen in a film, especially as Blythe Danner sings it live and also moved the patrons in the bar and I would of liked to of seen Blythe Danner sing another song live. Despite this, again this film is absolutely fantastic and well worth purchasing this Blu-ray disc.
I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS MUSIC TRACK LIST
ONES WHO LOVE YOU (Written by Brian Murphy, Alec O'Hanley and Molly Rankin) [Performed by Alvvays]
WALKING ON A DREAM (Written by Nick Littlemore, Jonathan Sloan and Luke Steele)
TRAMPOLINE (Written by Matt Cascella and James Downes) [Performed by Owlbiter]
I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW (Written by Ritchie Cordell)
SHOTGUN (Written by Jeremy Bullock) [Performed by Jeremy Bullock]
CRY ME A RIVER (Written by Arthur Hamilton)
GROOVIN’ (Written by Edward Brigati and Felix Cavaliere) [Performed by The Rascals]
DON’T GO TO STRANGERS (Written by Redd Evans, Arthur Kent and David Mann) [Performed by Etta Jones]
LET’S BE STILL (Written by Kenny Hensley, Josiah Johnson, Jonathan Russell, Charity Rose Thielen, Robert Williams and Christopher Zasche) [Performed by The Head and the Heart]
I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS (Written by Keegan DeWitt) (Produced and Engineered by Logan Matheny at Big Light Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) (Arranged by Eleonore Denig) (Violin: Eleonore Denig / Cello: Cara Fox / Lap Sttel and Upright Bass: Jon Estes) [Performed by Keegan DeWitt]
Blu-ray Image Quality – It’s become a strong pattern recently that most modern films look good to amazing on this 1080p encoded image Blu-ray, as well as a very nice 1.85:1 aspect ratio. ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ has very exceptional detail, strong contrast levels and some amazing colour levels. The fine detail is never in doubt, with every fibre and wrinkle on the aging actors bodies and clothing are always visible, and the while the contrast is pushed to the high end of the spectrum, it never washes out the blacks TOO much. With that being said, I did notice a couple of times where said contrast gave the blacks a slightly washed out hue, but those were mostly at the beginning of the film, while the rest of the film sports deep and inky blacks. Colours are warm and natural, with cheery blues, greens and pastels to fill out the image with a good feel to the film.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track on board sports great fidelity from the centre channel, which carries most of the weight, and features a good balance with the rest of the track but you know what to expect from your average drama in the audio department. The music adds the most activity to the surrounds, and listening to Carol Petersen [Blythe Danner] sings “Cry Me a River” is worth the price of admission alone. There’s a decent amount of ambient activity to keep the surrounds in use the whole film, but the majority of the work is really handled by the centre with some support by the mains mild, but perfectly acceptable for the genre, and even adds some low end weight that’s quite noticeable, especially with the cop car pulling them over, or the trip out on the ocean in Bill’s boat.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: A Look Inside ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ [2015] [1080p] [1.85:1] [3:27] Here we get to view a short type of promotional reel with interviews with the cast and crew, discussing their characters and the film's central themes. It was really nice to hear all their views of the actors talking about their characters in the film and especially about being old and their outlook on life in general. I just wish there had been more to this, considering the truly amazing cast. As a bonus you get lots of clips from the film. Contributors included: Blythe Danner [Carol Petersen]; Rhea Perlman [Sally]; Brett Haley [Writer/Director]; Sam Elliott [Bill]; June Squibb [Georgina]; Mary Kay Place [Rona] and Malin Akerman [Katherine Petersen].
Theatrical Trailers: We get to view two Original Theatrical Trailers at the start of the Blu-ray and they are as follows: ‘Pawn Sacrifice’ [2015] [1080p] [2.20:1] [2:30]. ‘Danny Collins’ [2015] [1080p] [2.20:1] [3:02].
Finally, ‘I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS’ is a totally beautiful, rich film, which is also a very sweet and endearing film with a purpose and a total confident in know-how how its approach to complicated and emotional material and one that pulls at the heartstrings at the same time and as an added bonus definitely delivers some good laughs. The characters are all amazing and it's so much fun to go on their journey with them, leaving you wanting to spend more time with each and every one of them. There are no action sequences here or big explosions, but this film proves you don't need any of that to have an excellent film that is as simple as having a conversation with friends and the ones you love. The video and audio presentations are both top notch, however the one extra lacks substance, but video and audio qualities satisfy greatly and I didn’t want the film to end, it is that brilliant. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
