Who Here Hasn’t Dreamed of Nicolas Cage?

Some movies can be a little too clever for their own good. Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario starts off with a rich, surreal premise, and for much of its running time, it mixes playful, cringe-comic energy with an undercurrent of existential anxiety. But it eventually manages to undo much of what made it so tantalizing by turning metaphor and subtext into a more narrow-minded satire. Luckily, a central performance by Nicolas Cage as a mild-mannered academic watching his dignity get demolished keeps us watching. He is both the movie’s greatest weapon and, at times, too good for it.