First off, I'd like mention my admiration for the works of Dreamcatcher director Lawrence Kasdan. This is the man who co-wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of my all time favorite films. This is to say nothing of his extraordinary talent as a director, bringing us such insightful works as The Big Chill, Grand Canyon, and The Accidental Tourist as well as his homage to westerns, the wildly entertaining Silverado. Needless to say, I looked forward to his first directing effort since his underrated Mumford.

Dreamcatcher is based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, and this adaptation was written by Mr. Kasdan and William Goldman. We're talking major league talent here.

This story is part male bonding drama, part dreamlike thriller, part alien invasion movie, and all convoluted cinema.

Kasdan has always been a master with the ensemble cast, and Dreamcatcher includes some strong acting talent including; Morgan Freeman, Tom Sizemore and Jason Lee. Lee spends his brief screen time providing the film with it's funniest moments via his brilliant, smart ass bravado that made his roles in the works of Kevin Smith so memorable. Aside from Lee, I also liked Damian Lewis. He brings dramatic depth and a sense of terror to a film that is more silly and disjointed than anything else. Thomas Jane is completely unconvincing as a man tired of his life. Some of his big moments were downright laughable.

The ever so classy Morgan Freeman can't even find rhythm as an underwritten military man who's spent the better part of his career chasing aliens and is all the more bitter because of it. It's just plain silly, and I hate to see him waste his time in a part like this. Sizemore is the typical grunt who has a change of heart. He too, is much better than this. Aside from Lee and Lewis, the only other performance worth mentioning is the one given by Donnie Wahlberg as a retarded man reunited with friends from his rough childhood past. While he is convincing, he doesn't get much screen time, and is all but demeaned by a ridiculously goofy ending.

Of course in a movie like this, it isn't about the acting, but Kasdan tries awfully hard to put character at the forefront.

It's hard to know exactly what went wrong with this project, but I'd point my finger at the source material by Stephen King. I have not read the novella, but it seems to me that this tale just doesn't have much of a focus. You've got a group of guys who've had a psychic bond since childhood, you've got a strange Indian charm that protects people while they sleep, and you've got a group of pissed off aliens trying to take over the world. There's enough stuff here to fill three separate movies, but in Dreamcatcher, none of these plot elements really come together, nor do they feel developed.

Kasdan deserves props for trying to put his characters in interesting conversations. There are many pop culture references (check out all the Scooby Doo stuff), a slightly labored bit about the $6 burger at Carls Jr., and an amusing mention of a little seen film called Promise Land from the 80's. Sadly, it is the often unintentionally hilarious alien invasion plot that I was thinking about after I walked out of the movie.

Stephen King is often criticized for recycling his own material and he does that in spades here. Certainly, Dreamcatcher is reminiscent of his own Stand By Me (the innocence of childhood here isn't nearly as effective) and It (with it's depiction of lifelong friends banning together to overthrow evil). This film also reminded me of Outbreak, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing, although it isn't as good as any of these films.

I've always felt that a story line doesn't necessarily have to spell everything out to be effective. X-Files was a show that constantly answered a question with another question, but for the most part it was a show that worked. Last year's The Ring is another good example of a film that wasn't always logical, but still excelled because of it's dark and gloomy tone and wicked execution. Dreamcatcher never seems to find it's way out of the blizzard.

Dreamcatcher is also full of big special effects, or maybe I should just say effects, because they really aren't all that special. Kasdan stated in a recent interview that he really wanted this movie to feature payoffs. Evidentally, he purchased the most expensive payoffs he could buy, but unfortunately, they don't pay off. The alien money shots are certainly high tech but their hardly effective or scary.

This isn't to say Dreamcatcher doesn't have it's moments. Actually, there are some fun sequences early on in the film as the alien life form just begins to take over, but as the movie progresses, it becomes more ridiculous and more convoluted, ending with a most unsatisfying climax. For a movie like this to really work, it needs to offer up a sense of danger. Unfortunately, Dreamcatcher completely fails to conjure any up.

It's clear to me that Kasdan wanted a character driven alien invasion movie. Something like Signs perhaps. And while Signs is hardly the perfect film, at least it offered up a satisfying build up and characters that you can sympathize with. Dreamcatcher is a big, disjointed mess by comparison.

Aside from being extremely well shot and scaring up a few entertaining moments, about the only thing worth recommending in Dreamcatcher is another winning score from James Newton Howard.

As for Mr. Kasdan, I'm still a huge fan. I have all the confidence in the world that Dreamcatcher was just a misfire, and that he will rebound with another great piece of work.