“Dream” follows the good publicity PR stunt to repair the public image of football superstar Yoon Hong-dae (Park Seo-joon) following an altercation with a reporter by placing him as the coach for the Korean Homeless World Cup team alongside Lee So-min (IU), a documentary producer/director who dreams of finding success.
Created by Director & Writer Lee Byeong-heon (with films such as Extreme Job & Twenty credited to his name), Dream is a film that was highly anticipated by film lovers, and of course, those who have followed the careers of Park Seo-joon (Star of Itaewon Class, Fight for My Way, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim) and singer/acting sensation Lee Ji-eun (Stage name IU – star of Broker, My Mister, Hotel Del Luna).
The film made its debut on Netflix on 25 July 2023, and through a fictionalised dramatisation of the 2010 Homeless World Cup (“HWC”), being the first year Korea participated in the event, is focused on drawing public attention to the HWC and the year-round work it does to advocate for the end of homelessness, change/shape attitudes towards the global issue, and of course to seek to challenge negative social perception. Football, of course, is something which is a universal language, and loved across the world. Their goal, of course, is a world without homelessness.
The film kicks off with scenes of a football match, and all the excitement, joy, and tension that brings, there is definitely a lot of passion. The viewer is then introduced to a deadpan Yoon Hong-dae. After an altercation with a reporter, the film moves to chart the involvement of Yoon Hong-dae as coach of the HWC team, and documents the team’s progress towards playing in the tournament. Of course, as you might expect for any underdog story, the team Yoon Hong-dae is introduced to is a scrappy, disorganised, and hastily pulled together group of individuals who by any other method would not have crossed paths. But that makes the team special, and by the time the matches got really underway, I was rooting for them. Something I found great about this film is that the team’s overall success in the Tournament was largely irrelevant, especially to the ending. The film was more focused on the how the game of football, and working together as a team, allowed the characters to connect, develop personally and be a part of something special.
The film does a wonderful job in its portrayal of the characters. They all have interesting stories to tell, and these come out slowly as the film develops. I loved that the characters are portrayed as ordinary people, rather than using some of the more negative (and unfair) stereotypes associated with the homeless. The traits of the characters are entertaining and funny, but not in a mocking way. They’re dynamic and interesting. I admired their resilience and perseverance. The film is a good example of how important it is to give someone something to focus on, to talk to them as equals, understanding them and their life experiences, because everyone has a sad story, right? Despite our differences, and our different life experiences, we, as humans, are all the same. In that sense, the film felt authentic. That being said, I did feel at times that the film does not explore or make enough of the homelessness and the plights of the homeless. I was expecting there to be an in depth exploration of each of the individual characters, but that was dropped, and largely in favour of protracted, albeit not unenjoyable, scenes of the matches the team participates in.
Another thing to enjoy about the film is the cast as a whole. Each character was perfectly cast and portrayed, even the strange reporter that provokes Yoon Hong-dae at the start. The actors all allow their characters to all shine in unique ways and complement each other, and actually, I liked that there wasn’t really a ‘main character’. Yoon Hong-dae is portrayed perfectly by Park Seo-joon “PSJ”), who really excels and shines in sports dramas. PSJ is the perfect fit for the character. He can flit wonderfully between the different sides to the character, someone who is at times stroppy and sarcastic, to someone who his capable of great kindness and understanding. Hong-dae doesn’t have a huge personality change, but his reluctant caring about things as he gets to know the people involved is natural and really great to watch. IU’s character was interesting, but largely left unexplored, which is a shame.
Those who are expecting the film to chart the enemies-to-lovers dynamic between the Yoon Hong-dae and Lee So-min, will be disappointed. What the director creates between the two characters is far better than that: A reluctant friendship largely based on sarcasm. Anything else would have detracted from the main story-line.
Whilst Dream is fun, entertaining and endearing, where it falls short is that it abandons the premise at the heart of the film. The film promises to tackle and challenge social perceptions of the Homeless but despite this only really touches on the issue, and after having kicked around it for a while, eventually drops it all together in favour of a drawn-out, albeit not unenjoyable, football match. Furthermore, you would be forgiven for feeling a little disappointed IU’s character largely left unexplored, and eventually relegated to the sidelines.
It was filmed in a quick, bright and humorous way, and was as a whole, enjoyable. True, the film may not be ‘ground breaking’ despite the novel idea. I would describe the film as good, not brilliant, but it is worth watching. It’s easy watching. It’s not full of drama, and although there are a few scenes that tug on the heartstrings, especially towards the end, it won’t tax your emotions. It’s fun, entertaining, and endearing. The music is also perfect, especially that in the opening credits.
The best thing about the film for me was that the story itself doesn’t contain any complicated plot twists. Instead, it delivers a largely human story, one full of lot of funny moments, ‘hwaiting!’ moments, chaotic interactions, endearing relationships and perfectly timed jokes. Largely I would offer congratulations to the cast and film makers for creating a slick and entertaining film that engaged an otherwise football “un-enthusiast” like myself.
In a nutshell
Title: Dream
Cast: Park Seo-jun, IU, Kim Jong-su, Ko Chang-seok, Jung Seung-kil, Lee Hyun-woo, Yang Hyun-min, Hong Wan-pyo, Heo Joon-seok
Director: Lee Byeong-heon
Genre: Sports films, Drama, Comedy
Quick synopsis: Don’t count them out! With hard work and dedication on lock, a group of homeless men train to compete in a global tournament – despite a cranky coach.
Rating: ★★
Trailer: