REVIEW: DREAMIN' WILD

4/5

Glory Days

110 Mins. Starring: Casey Affleck, Noah Jupe, Zooey Deschanel, Walton Goggins, Jack Dylan Grazer, Chris Messina & Beau Bridges. Screenplay: Bill Pohlad. Director: Bill Pohlad. In: Theatres.

Kino is an independent cinema in Japan, showcasing international and indie films alike. Such is the release schedule in Japan. Unless this is a Marvel movie, or something of that Star Wars and Disney nature, most movies come out late. I can't wait to watch 'Wicked'...in two months time. But hey, it's all green with envy good. Even to a movie buff like me. If my sacrifice for my dream life in the Far East is to watch movies and review them late (aside from the more heartbreaking thing of being away from friends and family), as well as pay out the backside for books in the English language, so be it. Kino in Yokohama's Minato Mirai area overlooked by the legendary to the city Landmark Tower is beautiful. Especially with a Tsutaya bookshop below, complete with coffee from Starbucks. After watching an early evening movie here and walking home by the twilight of Yokohama blue illumination, these richer movies with deeper meaning and nuance of our love and life's rises and falls really stay with you. 'The Iron Claw'. 'To Leslie'. No matter how late they come.

None quite like this, however, as 'Dreamin' Wild' is finally awoken in the Land of The Rising Sun this weekend gone, after it's August release in the US...in 2023. Perhaps it's due to its lead, Casey Affleck, being clouded in controversy. Yet the 'Manchester By The Sea' Academy-Award winning actor gives a sensitive and spirited performance of subtle power, much like he did in the movie he really should have got the Oscar for...'A Ghost Story'. The other players punctuated performances shouldn't be spoiled by this, either, like an undeniable, but sadly underused Zooey Deschanel. I'm also hesitant to reveal this brilliant Bill Pohlad ('Love & Mercy' with a Brian Wilson shout out here) written and directed film is based on a true story (like 'The Iron Claw') and New York Times article ('Fruitland, Washington') by Steven Kurutz. Because when I found out (like 'The Iron Claw'), it floored me...this time, beautifully in a moving moment at the movies. Two young brothers who cut a record ('Dreamin' Wild') in the real American heartland during their teens. Only for it to become a big hit thirty years later after their original 1978 glory days were long in the Springsteen rearview of the runaway American dream.

But these brothers of this Roadside Attractions movie were born to run, too. The youngsters played by fellow stars of the future, and right now, Noah Jupe ('A Quiet Place', 'Ford v Ferrari') and Jack Dylan Glazer ('SHAZAM!', 'Luca') actually look like real brothers, beyond the curly hair. Much like an award worthy Beau Bridges sounds like his own brethren with a crazy heart. Speaking of siblings, in a movie that should get the casting director of the year Oscar (what?! There isn't one? Well here's to you, Kerry Barden, Nike Imoru and Paul Schnee), and not just for Ben Affleck favourite Chris Messina's gregarious, great discovery, it's Walton Goggins that steals the show. Even though this blue collar brother refuses to do so with the spotlight. Hard worn and humble with a kindness and grace below those calloused hands that should have at least held some sort of award. Unmistakable, like that voice and his delivery. The real crowning, though belongs to the true to life brothers of Donnie and Joe Emerson, that this unbelievable movie and actual true story is based on. Their album that now rolls like a stone that wild horses couldn't drag away is now a classic with its own certified legend. One that shows what dreams may come and the enduring power that songwriting and music has on people, even when you've lost your own faith in it. To butcher the line of another rock act's journey, don't stop dreaming. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Crazy Heart', 'Manchester By The Sea', 'A Complete Unknown'.