Director – Marc Rocco, Screenplay – D.E. Eisenberg, Daniel Jay Franklin & Marc Rocco, Story – Daniel Jay Franklin, Producers – D.E. Eisenberg & Marc Rocco, Photography – King Baggot, Music – John William Dexter, Production Design – Matthew C. Jacobs. Production Company – Lightning Pictures.
Cast
Corey Feldman (Bobby Keller), Meredith Salenger (Lainie Diamond), Corey Haim (Dinger), Jason Robards (Cole Ettinger), Piper Laurie (Gena Ettinger), Harry Dean Stanton (Ike Baker), William McNamara (Joel), Susan Blakely (Cherry Diamond), Alex Rocco (Gus Keller), Victoria Jackson (Kit Keller), Matt Adler (Dumas), Lala [Sloatman] (Shelley)
Plot
Aging Cole Ettinger is practicing a meditation ritual on his lawn with his wife Gena. At the same time, teenager Bobby Keller takes a shortcut through the property only to collide with schoolmate Lainie Diamond on her bicycle. Cole wakes up in the morning to find he is now in Bobby’s body. Trying to navigate the school day as a teenager, Cole finds that his and Gena’s bodies are now missing. He connects with Lainie at school, believing that Gena is somehow caught inside her body, although Lainie thinks the idea ridiculous. In trying to persuade Lainie of what has happened, Cole ends up romancing her, much to the irritation of Bobby’s best friend Joel, who believes that Lainie is his.
The bodyswap genre has a long history that goes back to at least the 1940s and films like Turnabout (1940), Here Comes Mr Jordan (1941) and Angel on My Shoulder (1946) – see Bodyswap and Identity Exchange Films. The 1980s bought a revival of the bodyswap genre with a spate of films such as Like Father Like Son (1987), Big (1988), Vice Versa (1988), 18 Again (1988), Chances Are (1989) and Dream a Little Dream. In these, usually middle-aged men end up swapping bodies with their children (grandchildren in the case of 18 Again). Comic foils ensue as the two try to slot into the other’s lives.
On the other hand, when it comes to Dream a Little Dream, we end up with a strange entry in the bodyswap genre that never seems to make it clear what is happening. Jason Robards and his wife Piper Laurie are conducting a meditation ritual on the lawn at night just as teenagers Corey Feldman and Meredith Salenger take a shortcut through their property and collide. This ends up with Jason incarnated inside Corey’s body as per the standard bodyswap film.
However, the set-up has some huge gaping holes in it. One of these is this – if Jason Robards’ soul has swapped into Corey Feldman’s body, then what has happened to Robards’ own body and Corey’s soul? They just seemed to have vanished – neither Robards nor Piper Laurie’s bodies are even inhabiting their home anymore. Robards and Corey’s selves turn up in dream sequence to have discussions every so often but it is clear these are dreams happening outside the regular world. There is also the question of where Piper Laurie’s soul went – Robards believes that she is inhabiting Meredith Salenger’s body but this is not something that Meredith ever confirms or gives any clear indication beyond that this might be the case.
Added to this is where Dream a Little Dream places its focus. All of the abovementioned bodyswap films have their focus on the comic mishaps that occurs when we have an adult in a teenager’s body and a teenager forced to play-act being an adult. This has one or two scenes with Corey Feldman dressing in a tie to go to school, not understanding how to be cool and so on, but then the film forgets all about the bodyswap angle. Certainly, this may well be the fact that Corey Feldman seems to lack the acting range that Kirk Cameron or Fred Savage displayed in Like Father, Like Son and Vice Versa and places little effort into suggesting that he is a senior in a teenager’s body.
The two Coreys – (l to r) Corey Haim and Corey Feldman
Instead, Dream a Little Dream places all of its focus on Robards-as-Corey wooing Meredith Salenger in the belief that she is the soul of his wife. Meredith never confirms such nor does the film come as this being anything other than a maaaaybe. While director Marc Rocco seems convinced of the sincerity of the romantic plot (and the fact that we never find out what happened to Piper Laurie), today this reads with an unintentional creep factor – an old man finds himself in a teenage body again, ignores his wife and sets out to woo a teenage girl. Certainly, Meredith Salenger has never been lovelier and some of the romantic scenes have a certain conviction when they kick in. Nevertheless, the very parts of its story the film conveniently chooses to ignore create gaping holes.
If nothing else, Dream a Little Dream boasts a fantastic cast – the great Jason Robards, the Academy Award-winning Piper Laurie as his wife, Harry Dean Stanton in a throwaway role as Robards’ best friend, the two Coreys Feldman and Haim, a young and stunning beautiful Meredith Salenger, and small parts from other faces like Susan Blakely and Alex Rocco (director Marc’s father in real life).
Dream a Little Dream 2 (1995) was a sequel, featuring repeat performances from Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. Beyond that, the sequel is largely unrelated to this film and features the two recipient of a pair of magic sunglasses that causes the wearer to adopt the personality of the wearer.
Marc Rocco (1962-2009) only directed four movies with Scenes from a Goldmine (1987), When the Day Takes You (1992) and Murder in the First (1995). His one other genre work was as producer of the time travel film The Jacket (2005).
