A Day-Old Dream

THE DREAM TEAM (1989)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Howard Zieff's "The Dream Team" is the cartoonish version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and though it has some merits and a couple of humanistic touches, it is merely serviceable entertainment for those who couldn't stomach the day-to-day reality and black-humored horror of the Jack Nicholson classic.

At a New Jersey sanitarium, we are introduced to four mental patients. One is a violent, chair-throwing, delusional named Billy (Michael Keaton); another is a religious fanatic who listens to a nightly religious radio show, Jack (Peter Boyle), who believes he is the son of God; a clean freak named Henry (Christopher Lloyd) who fancies himself a doctor and carries a clipboard and, finally, a baseball fan named Albert (Stephen Furst), who never utters a word. In one of a few inspired bits, when we first meet Henry, we actually think he is a doctor until there is a group meeting with Dr. Jeff Weitzman (Dennis Boutsikaris) who politely tells Henry to put down his clipboard. An outing to see the New York Yankees is suggested by Dr. Weitzman, though the staff is hesitant about such a trip. Nevertheless the trip is on and once they arrive in New York City, Albert insists on going to the bathroom. The other patients stay in a van parked at a gas station while the good doctor takes Albert to a nearby alley and all hell breaks loose. A couple of corrupt cops (thanklessly played by Philip Bosco and James Remar) kill another cop and it is all witnessed by Dr. Weitzman! Albert is another witness but never says a word, nor does he tell the other patients waiting in a van.

"The Dream Team" could have just dealt with the misadventures of this motley crew of patients as they separate and are off causing mischief. Albert loves watching the Yankees play and repeats every line the announcer says, though his situation is far less funny than the others. Billy tries to hook up with an old flame (Lorraine Bracco) but she is already seeing someone else (both Keaton and Bracco have terrific chemistry). Henry goes to a bar and tells some rough patrons to clean up their counter space, plus he visits his wife and child in one of the more moving scenes in the film. Jack, a former ad-man who used to make $100,000 a year, delivers a sermon at a black church while stripping down to his underwear!

Most of these scenes are fitfully funny and staged with some restrained comic energy. But the whole bad cops subplot is uninvolving and it got on my nerves after a while - it is a distraction and turns the film into a haywire comedy-thriller. There is a hospital chase and, oh dear, several more chases and last-minute interventions we have seen a million times before. "The Dream Team" is serviceable entertainment but, with this outstanding cast, it is nothing more than a day-old dream.