Opal Dream
Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    88
    The film's sweetness derives primarily from the relationship between Ashmol and his unusual sister, and draws much of its richness from the unfamiliar and fascinating world of opal prospecting.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    A heartwarming family fable that parents and kids can enjoy.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    It's tear-jerker material but ends up being quite touching, and it's a good choice for family viewing.
  4. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Manny Lewis
    75
    And despite Kellyanne, at times, coming off as more annoying than sympathetic, the film succeeds because of the great lengths to which Ashmol goes to bring her peace of mind.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    70
    An exceptional family film, arriving just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Directed with sensitivity by "The Full Monty's" Peter Cattaneo, it is the antithesis of the standard synthetic Hollywood family movie, which is all too often weighed down by ludicrously exaggerated special effects and stunts and glazed over by gross humor.
  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    70
    Charming enough.
  7. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Sid Smith
    63
    Sophisticated cinephiles aren't likely to go ga-ga over this one, but Opal Dream is a worthwhile family film, graced with an ambivalent, bittersweet ending and just the right touch of cinematic poetry turning on the gemstone in its title.
  8. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    Though there are no Montys, full or otherwise, the finale will lift you up.
  9. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Megan Lehmann
    60
    A fanciful wisp of a film that feels slight at times. It's based on the slender novella "Pobby and Dingan," by Ben Rice, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Yet it winds up making some keen observations on the power of imagination.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    50
    The film squeezes out its feel-good messages like toothpaste from a tube.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Jay Weissberg
    50
    From the first frames, when lollypops are offered to the camera, there's no escaping the saccharine miasma of whimsy enveloping Peter Cattaneo's Opal Dream.
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Reece Pendleton
    50
    The film clearly means to celebrate the power of imagination, but while younger kids may find it charming, some parents may begin to wonder if the girl's obsessive fantasies don't warrant a trip to the local shrink.
  13. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    50
    The filmmaking here is flat, straight, and thoroughly lacking in poetry, and the script--co-written by Cattaneo, Rice, and Phil Traill--tells instead of showing.
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    40
    Rush screaming from anything that announces itself as "a movie for children and grown-ups of all ages." Slight and shamelessly saccharine, Opal Dream is devoted to the proposition that it takes an Australian-outback village to validate the imaginary friends of a blond child who is too sensitive for this world but not, alas, for this sappy movie.
  15. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    40
    A warning to parents everywhere about the dangers of indulging irrational behavior, Opal Dream is a sickly sweet tale of deep dysfunction masquerading as family solidarity.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. ChadS.
    7
    "Kellyanne(Sapphire Boyce) and Francie(from Patrick McCabe's novel "The Butcher Boy") sitting in a tree..." Those two crazy kids would understand each other. Although Kelllyanne's psychotic break is cuter than his, the little blonde-haired, blue-eyed pixie will make you squirm as she participates in playtime with thin air. Intentional or not, "Opal Dreams" can be scary; Kellyanne's tenacious single-mindedness for the make-believe has the power to disturb. She's seriously f****d-up. Let's blame the parents. "Opal Dreams" could easily be construed as a backlash against the counterculture of the late-sixties. Look at her older brother, for instance, he's the one who should probably have the imaginary friends named Pobby and Dingan; the poor kid is named Ashmol(derived from "ashram"), which suggests that his parents were hippies and smoked a lot of pot on a commune. Kellyanne's imaginary friends have no religious affiliation; they're pacifists, an ideal perhaps hatched up by a little girl exposed to too many John Lennon records("Imagine no religion/it's easy if you try...), and pot. That's not to say "Opal Dreams" is a bad film. To me, it's the story of two former-flower children who are paying the price for their free-love, free-your-mind heyday.… Full Review »
  2. KellieAnnZ.
    10
    I loved this movie, it is one of my favorites. It's a very touching story that you will want to watch over and over again.
  3. Mike
    3
    I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't. Amateurish acting, one-dimensional and mostly uninteresting characters, and an unexceptional story poorly told all contributed to my disappointment. Whereas The Full Monty provided believably real people finding a novel solutions to routine problems, Opal Dream had wooden actors finding routine solutions to unbelievable problems. I like a sappy cryer as much as anyone. This one just didn't work.… Full Review »
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