Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

The Dream Team (1989)

Director: Howard Zieff

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The Dream Team is a collection of fruitcakes, locked away because they're just too annoying for polite society. Only Billy (Keaton), with his violent temper, poses any threat, but even this is a symptom of his being too in tune with his emotions. Of the others, Albert (Furst), after 12 years of institutionalised TV viewing, can communicate only in telespeak; Jack (Boyle) thinks he's Christ; and Henry (Lloyd) thinks he's a doctor. These open-hearted innocents are misunderstood but not mistreated: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is acknowledged and dismissed in an inspired opening scene. Caring psychiatrist Dr. Weitzman (Boutsikaris) escorts the Team on a day out to the Yankee Stadium, and is separated from his charges in the heart of Manhattan. Abandoned in the madness of the urban jungle, they are forced to overcome their mental handicaps in order to trace the missing doctor and foil a murder plot. Halfway through, the plot settles into an obvious stride, but by then we're hooked into each character's personal voyage of self-discovery. Despite the barrage of one-liners and almost farcial plot twists, Zieff's light touch and some unselfish ensemble acting make this team genuinely endearing.

Author: EP 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Howard Zieff

Producer: Christopher W Knight

Cast: Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, Stephen Furst, Dennis Boutsikaris, Lorraine Bracco, Milo O'Shea, Philip Bosco, James Remar, Jack Giplin full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 113 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.