Lathe of Heaven
George Orr (Bruce Davison) has “effective dreams” and whatever he dreams becomes reality. In fact, it has always been reality and no one but he is aware of the change. As part of his probation for drug abuse (trying to keep from dreaming), he is required to visit Dr. Haber (Kevin Conway), a psychiatrist and sleep researcher who soon realizes what George is telling him about his dreams is true. An altruist but also an egotist, Haber tries to use George’s power to cure all the world’s ills, but the law of unintended consequences soon reeks havoc (after he has George create a huge Haber Research Center). As one example, Haber wants to fix the population problem, but the solution dreamt by George is a plague that killed 3/4 of the world’s people.
This is a low budget creation of WNET/13 of Ursula LeGuin’s novel, and it generally works in spite of its very, very dated appearance. One almost expects Dr. Who to pay a visit. The ending is confusing and not in a good way. Instead of a “The End…??? ” or something, it’s more of a “Whaaaa?” Worth watching, but I wouldn’t make a special effort.
January 15th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
I loved this story when I read it, upon a friend’s recommendation! I saw the movie somewhat later, and I too was a bit disappointed.