Initially, I thought I wasn't going to care for this film whose main conceptual theme seems to be to not give up on your dreams...even if that means not being able to pay your rent and having to struggle working unfulfilling temp jobs while getting rejections, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying the film by the end because of it's creativity. I feel like this was a bit of a departure for Hallmark in that there was a fully fleshed out and imaginative Dream Central that is not only distinctly colored, but containing a whole staff of individuals whose job it is to watch video tapes of people's past to create dreams for them seeded with memories and experiences.
A new dream central employee makes a mistake and adds a Portland native musician named Michael to Grace's dreams. The problem is Grace has never met Michael and was never meant too. The new dream creator, Alura, and her supervisor , Harvey, have to go to the real world from Dream Central in order to convince Grace to allow them to erase Michael from her memory. The problem is Dream Michael is too great, so Grace tries to dodge Alura and Harvey...and meets Michael in person. Only Michael doesn't know who Grace is, but they get along famously in real life...just like in Grace's dreams. The two bond over their struggles to make it with their dreams, Michael is a want to be singer-songwriter and Grace wants to be a published author. The two collaborate a bit on a bicoastal trip back to Portland, Oregon (Michael's hometown), from Grace's hometown of Grand Rapids, MI.
I loved the look and feel of Dream Central with it's 1950's colors and VHS tapes, etc. It reminded me a bit of both The Good Place and Loki's TVA (Time Variant Authority). I really appreciated that Dream Central was fully fleshed out with staff, orientation, etc. I also liked seeing various Dream interactions between Grace and Michael, with Grace's old dress and dancing, etc. Then to have not only Grace's temp job...but Michael's back up family job...there was a lot going on, including a cross country train ride....and a meeting with Grace's Portland dwelling grandmother.
I loved the creativity and the excellent story telling. It was a big surprise to me. I even enjoyed Alura's fascination with pie! Cute, positive and fun. I think this was a positive departure from the Hallmark norm that I really appreciated and approved of. This is a recommendation from me, particularly for those who are dreamers.
