Reality is messy, but it’s nobody’s job to clean it up, paraphrasing what one character speaks in Howard Zieff’s 1989 comedy THE DREAM TEAM. At a time when mental health is on the agenda, it is interesting to revisit the virtue of its’ intentions.
Within the walls of a psychiatric facility, Cedarbrook Hospital, four troubled individuals try and cope. Billy (Michael Keaton) is prone to mega-rage, Jack (Peter Boyle) is a former ad executive who believes everyone is naked (literally) in the eyes of the Lord, Henry (Christopher Lloyd) is a deluded individual who’s main joy is to dress up like the doctors observing him and Albert (Stephen Furst) is a seemingly geeky mute who is at least off medication and listening in group sessions.
So, what’s the best way of helping them cope? Why, a five-hour dose of reality thanks to their group doctor, Dr. Jeff Weitzman (Dennis Boutsikaris) complete with a Yankee baseball game and hot dogs to boot. However, when Albert urgently needs to heed a call of nature, Weitzman stops and takes him down an alleyway to relieve himself as the nearest facility is broken, only for him to be injured by two males committing a murder in the same place. Now the conflicts in reality and their own therapies are about to get a real dose of reflection….
Released at a time when mental health and illness was perhaps a more specialised area, THE DREAM TEAM respectfully keeps a grounded sense of identity, as well as providing excellent performances from the likes of Keaton and Lloyd, who were respectfully coming off the Tim Burton BATMAN and the then-imminent BACK TO THE FUTURE sequels (Question, if BACK TO THE FUTURE III is set before the events of the other two, does that make it a prequel rather than a sequel?). A pre-GOODFELLAS Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill) provides a watchable moment at Billy’s actress-waitress girlfriend Riley.
It balances the line between detachment and sanity and reminds us that we are all in the zone of our own perceived enlightenment as we continue our life journeys. It’s not an easy mix, but the actors and film-makers make it look effortless.