Watch TrailerDream Movie Review: It has been a long wait but it has finally happened! The South Korean film Dream has finally released in India. Released on Netflix, Dream stars Park Seo-joon, Lee Ji-eun aka IU, Kim Jong-soo, Go Chang-suk, Jung Seung-gil, Lee Hyun-woo, Yang Hyun-min, Hong Wan-pyo and Heo Joon-suk. The film revolves around a young footballer who quits the international team after a controversy and is tasked with coaching a team of men for the Homeless World Cup.
With no experience of football and most above the ideal age to play, Park Seo-joon’s Yoon Hong-dae is forced to put on a smile and train the ragtag team. The process is closely covered by documentary director Lee So-min, played by Lee Ji-eun. While Yoon Hong-dae starts off training the team as a pressure from his talent agency, he eventually turns passionate about the team and leaves no stone unturned to help the team perform well at the Homeless World Cup. The slice of life film is created by Lee Byung-hun.
The film opens with Lee Ji-eun promising a tear-jerker and it delivers the promise. Dream is everything that we’d be missing on the small screen — a relatable drama that has its share of heartbreaking moments but ensures to make you laugh as well. The happy ending is just cherry on the icing. Lee Byung-hun’s vision is delivered oh-so-well by the cast of the movie.
Dream doubles up as a great welcome back project for Park Seo-joon. Having seen him last on the small screen in Itaewon Class (and a cameo in Record of Youth) in 2020, his absence on the screen was getting evident. Owing to the delay in Dream’s release and a few other projects, the actor has been away for over three years now. But fortunately for him and his fans, he returned with a bang.
Borrowing a few characteristics from his role in Fight for My Way and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, Park Seo-joon added a new flavour to his role in the movie which allowed him to hit the goal effortlessly in Dream. Park Seo-joon reminded us that although he has been experimenting with various roles in his career, he will be forever everyone’s favourite grumpy boy next door.
Sharing the screen with Park Seo-joon for the first time is Lee Ji-eun aka IU and boy, she is a ball of sunshine on the screen. Lee Ji-eun’s energy is so contagious that there are a few scenes you can feel Park Seo Joon is engulfed into her vibrant aura. After having moved everyone with her performance in Broker last year, the actress-singer switched on her chirpy mode and delivered a memorable performance. Their scenes together had me believing that they had a ball filming the movie.
Dream also proves that the singer-actress can share a great chemistry with any actor she is cast opposite. Having said that, I would like to see IU and Park Seo Joon reunite in a romcom series. We’ve only seen half of what they have to offer as an on-screen duo in Dream.
While the lead pair shoulders the film, the heart of the film is the supporting cast. From Ko Chang-seok’s tear-jerking bond with his on-screen daughter to Lee Hyun-woo’s heartbreaking background, the film seamlessly intertwined the subplots with the game, pushing the film to victory. Another supporting character that had me in splits was Baek Ji-won, who played Park Seo-joon’s quirky mother in the film. Although she had only a handful of scenes, every time she would come on screen, she would crack me up. The film smartly uses humour to convey the dark reality of everyone’s lives which also allows it to tug at your heartstrings.
However, Dream is not perfect. The film starts off on a great note but it starts to slow down as it hits the midmark. Although it is only a two hour film, the slowed down pace starts to wear out the impact of the first half of the film. Although the pacing down seems necessary but it results in an uneven pacing of the film. The reduction in pace also impacts the build up of the climax. While Dream has everything in place to ensure the powerful climax, it becomes obvious that the film has to climb the high point yet again.
Bottom Line: Dream is fresh, breezy and just what you need after a long day of work. It makes you laugh, cry and root for the underdogs.
