Running on Empty Dreams (2009) User Reviews

So, I'm at the Blockbuster today with my partner and we liked the DVD cover...BUT

[TequilaMockingbird63 · 3/10 · 12 July 2009]

Film making 101:

Sorry. I have seen a lot of lesbian themed films and I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE THIS. Don't get me wrong its not the worst film ever made ...but the premise was so confusing!?! The DVD jacket says "Forced to Deny their Feelings" WHAT?! when? Their first kiss was so, ew, cold. no heat. I never once got a feeling these women were "hot" for each other. I never once got the sense that they were attracted to each other.

FAULT #1: LOW BUDGET. You can always tell low budget by the long single shots at say, a table, or washing dishes with no cut always. CLOSE UPS could have provided some intimate moments between the 2 women.

FAULT #2: WEIRD SCRIPT? (HUGE RELIGIOUS OVERTONES) WHO was this film made for?

FAULT #3 : When how and why am I supposed to believe these women both turned lezbo and the way it unfolded was sooooo BAD Made-for-TV awkward and not believable. I found myself with my jaw opened several times yelling out loud "oh hell no that did NOT just happen?!"

PLUS: GOOD ACTORS. Rachel Owens, Kathleen Benner and I did like the lead male in particular, Jose Rosete, who was portrayed as a compassionate, loving, hard working guy and not a jerk (as in, say, Thelma and Louise). This I appreciated.

PLUS: The kid actors I hope careers continue cuz' they shined for being in an awkward kind of weird lesbian low budget film.

KUDOS TO the actress who played "Geri" (I think Amber Ryan)? who played the extreeemely "stereotypical dyke" who although her acting was troubled by the direction or decision of grabbing her crotch (gross) I thought would have been more fun if the character was say, a ghost? or the main characters angel or subconscious or something.

Que Sera Sera. In conclusion: A for effort to the director, producer and all involved. BUT DO NOT EXPECT MUCH. THE ARE FAR BETTER Gay films our there. Just hope they keep making 'em.

Unsatisfactory conclusion

[ken_bethell · 5/10 · 23 June 2009]

An interesting film that is mildly titillating but ultimately leaves you less than satisfied.Although supposedly based on a true story one wonders just how much truth since it seemed so implausible at times. Do attractive and educated women really marry Marines? Okay not much cerebral empathy but who knows. What about the Rachel Owens character who saves Sydney with her 'Kiss of Life' but then who waits patiently to be seduced by her. What!! There was no dialogue to indicate that either of them had been in a lesbian relationship before only a "I wanted to kiss you the first time I saw you". The ending was as if this low budget film was down to its last dollar.One could imagine Sydney being filmed at her writing retreat with the producer furiously drawing his hand across his throat.Pity he hadn't done it earlier.

the film was...

[LoveLess27 · 4/10 · 9 May 2011]

OMG i just didn't understand what the storyline was all about. although the lead actress was very hot. points for that! the relationship of the women didn't seem to click. the role of that "Gerry" was confusing. because why in the first place would she even interrupt in the life of Sydney. they aren't even friends and what was more weird was when Gerry and Sydney were already shouting at each other and all Jane did was laugh at both of them. WTF? can't she even just say something like to stop yelling at each other.. what was that all about? LOL..

it was good but not enough for me to recommend this film. weird storyline.

This is Christian propaganda disguised as lesbian erotica

[kolaray · 1/10 · 26 July 2018]

What exactly is the message of this film? Because an hour after watching and wracking my brain, I'm still confused on the plot. Regardless of the terrible story line, I'm pretty certain that it was Christian propaganda. The forbidden fruit references/symbolism start early on (apples everywhere) but it doesn't click until stereotypical butch Geri comes into the picture, harassing the women about their relationship. She eventually reveals herself to be a born again Christian who has forsaken her only true love for a relationship w Christ. But that's not even the half of it as far as the *out of left field* twists and turns this movie has for literally no reason. I just don't get the message. Dare to be happy w someone who truly loves and sees you, and be doomed to hell; or be w someone who doesn't notice that you're sobbing uncomfortably throughout sex, doesn't care about you outside of an objectified stand point, and married you straight out of high school when you had no idea who you were- so that God won't punish you? Or when you realize that either way you're doomed to hell, just kill yourself/possibly suddenly die of cancer? Please, someone help me get it because I really really don't. If you're actually a queer identifying person, don't watch this movie unless you want an entire lifetime of brainwashing to be regurgitated in slow, unexpected heaves over the course of two hours.... I would've appreciated this movie being more appropriately categorized so I could've missed this retraumatization completely....

The worst lesbian film ever made!

[difaddy · 1/10 · 23 May 2009]

Being an out lesbian of 15 years, I've seen most lesbian films made.

I can safely say this film was by far the worst I've seen. It was seemingly written by a homophobe who knew nothing about what it means to be a lesbian. As with most mainstream gay films, it seems the best solution to a bad marrige is death; assuming redemption is needed by all gay people. The plot was truly insulting to women and to lesbians; and very predictable.

The music was horrendous.

The screenplay was wooden and poorly written.

The acting was bad, yet to be fair maybe this was due to the poorly written screenplay.

The directing was sophomoric, at best.

Save your money. Do not rent,and certainly do not buy this film.

If possible, do not even waste your time watching this film.

All Time Worst Movie I've Ever Watched

[spaldjaaex · 1/10 · 8 September 2018]

I will attempt to list all of the truly awful aspects of this movie: 1. Character development is non-existent. Everybody starts out angry and stays that way except for some scenes, for no apparent reason, somebody is blissfully happy (only to turn angry again in the next scene). No reasons are ever given as to why the started out angry or why everybody has periodic mood swings. 2. No plot at all. Just a series of random disconnected scenes strung together in random fashion 3. Whoever wrote the script had no concept of Catholics or the Catholic religion at all. The star goes to see the priest to confess that she may be having an affair. The priest sends her away saying the the church does no get involved in things like that and that all he can do is give her the name of a marriage counselor. At the end there is a suggestion that she may have committed suicide. Totally against the teachings of the church. And she ends up having her funeral at a church which is non-specific but definitely not Catholic (and which she attended only once) 4. At the end the local police were confused as to whether she died of her cancer or as a result of slashing her wrists. What kind of police can't figure that out in about 2 seconds?

I could go on for hours, but I hope this is enough to keep you from sacrificing 2 hours of your life for this thing.

Some good; some bad

[paleblueeyes24 · 5/10 · 4 August 2013]

There are spoilers** I thought the movie was going good until it started getting to the end and it drastically changed my outlook on it. It is pretty confusing to try and figure out exactly what the writer/director is trying to say. So many contradictions. Personally I felt like the film was trying to say it's easier to die than follow your heart. I don't think that's a good lesson for people who may watch this film. I know it's up to interpretation if it was suicide but regardless of the way you look at it, it was suicide!!!! Either she killed herself by slit her wrists or because she stopped taking the pills knowing she would die without them. Then of course with all the religious stuff going on. Blah. Up until all this stuff happened the movie was OK. I really liked the stark contrast between Jane's and Cory's character. Jane was happy, energetic, and free loving. Cory on the other hand was emotionless, self centered, and clueless on how to treat Syd. It wasn't any wonder why Syd wasn't happy. The part of Jane really wins you over and you're on her side from when you first meet her in the film (not technically the first time though).

My recommendation is watch the movie up to 1:40 then skip the last 20 minutes. It's much better that way. Trust me!!!

Running on empty dreams: not what I thought

[marcus-stevo-588-712192 · 1/10 · 21 November 2009]

They make you think its a soft-porn erotic lesbian movie. First scenes in the movies, you see kids in themovies. There's family roles. Then the blonde you see scars on one of her arms, like she had a burn accident. there's a scene where the brunette gets diagnosed for cancer. The husband is having turmoil over not earning enough to pay for his wife's treatments. Later in the movie as I FAST FORWARDED, I see the brunette wife talking about god and religion. Like somebody else said, who the hell was this movie made for? its a bag of carrot sticks in a hostess cupcake box. this whole movie is a low budget fraud. a FRAUD!! no sexiness or eroticism in this movie. Its a bunch of religious pondering, religious pandering, a bunch of psychological profiling.

Low budget but rather nice

[blumdeluxe · 6/10 · 2 June 2017]

"Running on empty dreams" tells the story of a married woman with cancer, who moves to a new place with her husband and her small son. There, she gets to know the neighbor, a single mom, quite well and quickly falls in love with her, a love that questions the basics her life has been set upon until now.

The movie is clearly created with a rather low budget. Unfortunately, at some points, you also notice this, either because the acting is carried out a bit too ambitious or because some of the plot points are lacking connection a bit, so that some of the developments somehow happen a bit out of the blue. Nevertheless I really liked the movie, for it raises an important issue, is clearly filmed with a lot of heart and effort and yet remains entertaining and watchable. The end, in my opinion, was a bit dramatic and there is a high counter of dramatic dialogues as well but you can mostly connect to the characters and understand their problems.

All in all it is a beautiful small movie, several points could still be improved, but I've seen many worse films with bigger budget.

what if factor......

[bloodsucker-2007 · 25 May 2009]

Paying attention to a film, a story and an experience like this can work wonders on what it is you look for in your idea of entertainment.

The story weighs you down. A lot going on with our lead couple. Some problems I can relate to. Money problems, stress and being married in general. More stress, more stress and more stress. Makes sense when a couple of other things come into play. A family dealing with cancer is something that can be devastating. There is no "what if" there. Relating to most of the above is like waking up every morning.

Now what if someone else, a threat, enters your situation and makes it worse? Another woman on the verge of taking away your wife, your family, your life as you once knew it.

It can get worse and it does get worse.

Sidney didn't know what she was getting into. Her fate wasn't meant to be, but it's as if she was almost set up to find herself in this situation. She had enough pain in her life. Everything she went through, what if she enjoyed it that much until the very end? Corey did everything he could to help. Or did he? What if he did more? Of course he could have done more. Jane doesn't get anything. She doesn't get one ounce of pity from me. What if Jane lived on a different street. What would have happened to this family that already had enough to deal with on a daily basis? I loved the acting. The music was a little all over the place. Very independent. Good movie.

Inappropriate in many ways.

[garyhoney1984 · 1/10 · 13 July 2019]

Its just stupid and wierd. To many uses of the Fucx word. Lesbians and God rarely go to together but who am I to judge.

Very Sad and touching

[Irishchatter · 8/10 · 22 March 2015]

I felt this movie was moving because it's like a life story of a woman with cancer. It was sad that she didn't have enough money to beat the cancer. Corey was trying his best in saving up the money for her even though didn't have enough in his pocket. It's so sad that she wasn't happy with him like OK he goes off a lot and fights for the country. Jane was very supportive of Sydney in what she was going through with the illness. Corey was too but Sydney didn't give him the chance. I hated the scene that took place in Sydneys funeral in which he shouldve acted like an adult and shouldve said something to Jane beforehand otherwise he wouldn't need to cause a scene.

Good film this is, prepare the handkerchiefs!

weird

[anngusuotngay · 6/10 · 25 January 2015]

I have to say that many situation in the movie make me confuse. 1/ Gerry- a butch, she built a theory about loving god is what she was doing, so at the end- the death of Sydney- does it prove her theory? is this a movie for encouraging lesbians? 2/ Jane saved Sydney's life, why doen't she tell Syd? She knows Syd will love her because of saving Syd's life? 3/ there is nothing about to make Syd to die, far away from her son? so many way to keep them together, about money for treatment? it's a stupid thought if she really love Jane, just see what did she left for Jane? nothing but Jane and Jane's love. 4/ Jane get on Syd's shirt and sport bra when the husband is around, it's like a punch to his face, does she get that?

Out of the closet

[killer-mitchell · 6/10 · 2 June 2009]

I'm going to go with the "I have a friend"...

Crisp and clean. Very nice camera work. Great performances from the three leads, and the butch. It could have had a bit more interaction with the kids involved. When you think about something like this actually going down, I think the majority of the viewers main interest out there is what the experience is like from children's side of things.

A story about love, twisted love, with a twist. A scripted view from someone on the inside, or on the outside looking in very closely. How does a women hide her feelings, her true feelings? She keeps them bottled up until she's about to burst, like most of us would! I "have a friend" who's a gay male, on the verge of coming out for the closet. Though he's not married with a son. A new start, a new place, and another problem to make things a little tricky for the relationship(s).

Not much going on with the special features. As much as I liked the behind the scenes, it wasn't enough. It could of taken advantage of this type of story that I'm sure is going on quite often in this time and day to really talk about how these experiences effect people. This movie was made to stand out, and it does. But I wanted more out of what, how And why the film was made, by the people who made it. Very disappointed the special features aren't packed to the max with more information!

A film about life & love.

[tonygoez · 8/10 · 6 March 2015]

I'm independently studying script writing,and journalism, and not for some academic credit or academic cause. I have read interviews with Nitara Lee Osbourne, the script writer & eventual film director, and post production interviews with Kathleen Benner. Full credit to Nitara for exploring her own life experiences, and with her creative character writing skills, creating a script worth producing. The cast was great, Nitara went by her instincts in casting both Sydney & Jane, with a fantastic result despite long days filming and a few hurdles in securing the perfect scene locations, taking her time to get the perfect match, the girls even spent some time together pre-production, giving them time to get close and form a bond, producing the necessary chemistry that shines throughout their story. I watched the film twice, as I missed a few subtle things the first time around. The music was fine, there were a few what if's, and I was left at the end, staring into space, blankly reading the credits, grateful for the ones that genuinely love me. It could have done with, "A little light of love", by Eric Serra, over the credits, and I give it 8/10 for it's truth on life & love. Well Done.

It's a movie that will get to you!

[Jasminstrothmann · 10/10 · 31 October 2013]

This movie is simply outstanding. It's different yes but it's also beautiful in a way.

The main characters have an amazing chemistry, there are a few odd and wondering moments however, if you let your imagination take over, you can actually kind of get the end you want.

I had the pleasure to interview Kathleen Benner (Sydney Harris) and the producer Nitara Osbourne. Both of who have given me more details on the movie, a touching background story and the thoughts and ideas behind it.

It's not just a lesbian movie, it's a touching, down to earth and real movie. Don't just dismiss it, watch it.