Take a Trip to ‘Dreamland’ on VOD Now

Could you use a little escape this weekend? Trick question, because the answer is YES for everyone. Luckily, the perfect getaway just landed on VOD today. It’s called Dreamland and it will sweep you away with its hope and optimism and love and romance and comedy.

The film stars Johnny Simmons, an actor that is just about to cannonball into what some might call a “breakthrough”. He’s appeared in films such as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, 21 Jump Street, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and The Late Bloomer, which just hit Netflix this week. In Dreamland, he stars as Monty, a guy you can’t help but want to hug. As he wades through his withering relationship with girlfriend Lizzie (recent #WCW Frankie Shaw), and begins an affair with Olivia (the sparkling Amy Landecker of Transparent), Monty chases his dream of opening his own piano bar while picking up piano-playing shifts at a fancy LA hotel at night, and teaching teens the keys during the day.

Yes, there’s a May-December romance and yes, there’s the American dream, but the film is not quite as cliché as those phrases. Dreamland takes a look at what it means to be a young person today: our relationships, our ambitions, and our total cluelessness. And through all of that, where our hope comes from, how it motivates us, and how it knocks us directly back on our asses.

The film is funny and awkward and yes, dreamy at times. But it is the chemistry between Simmons and Landecker, their interactions and their hookups and their misunderstandings, that will grab viewers the most. It’s nearly impossible not to give Landecker your full attention as she undresses and drapes herself over a piano while Simmons squirms in his corduroy jacket.

Dreamland is the directorial debut for Robert Schwartzman, frontman of the band Rooney, and the synth-y soundtrack is courtesy of him as well. Rounding out the impressive cast are his relatives Jason Schwartzman and Talia Shire, as well as Alan Ruck, Beverly D’Angelo, and Noel Wells. The film is proud of how quirky and witty it is, and rightfully so. Dreamland does not set out to make a statement or solve problems. It simply highlights the unique and unexpected people and relationships in our lives that tend to have a profound effect on who we are and who we become. The film is also a look at what happens when fun, exciting new opportunities arise and dopamine floods our brains, and who couldn’t use a reminder of what that’s like right about now? Just as the characters in the film get to experience, Dreamland allows viewers to hop on their bikes and take an escape from their everyday lives.

[Watch Dreamland on iTunes]