Dream House

Directed by Jim Sheridan

(PG-13

The real mystery of Dream House is how such a lame chiller flick managed to attract “such pedigree talent,” said David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter. The screenplay mixes together so many types of stories—haunted-house tale, “warped-perception mind-bender,” reality-based murder mystery—that “in the end it’s none of the above.” Daniel Craig plays a successful publisher who quits his job to spend more time with his wife (Rachel Weisz) and kids, but soon learns that their small-town dream house was the site of a grisly murder. As strange occurrences begin to unfold, director Jim Sheridan and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel at least make everything look beautiful, said Stephanie Zacharek in Movieline.com. “Because Weisz and Craig are good actors,” they even turn their characters into “people you feel you have some investment in.” Still, the unconvincing story is unsalvageable, said Tasha Robinson in the A.V. Club. When Craig searches for answers, what he learns is “nonsensical or contradictory, and his responses are equally unlikely.” The actors make the film “average instead of laughable,” but they deserve better.

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