{"id":1936,"date":"2023-08-03T04:14:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T11:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/?p=1936"},"modified":"2023-08-02T16:15:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T23:15:51","slug":"dreamin-wild-definitely-entertaining-with-its-toe-tapping-music-and-sincere-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2023\/dreamin-wild-definitely-entertaining-with-its-toe-tapping-music-and-sincere-performances\/","title":{"rendered":"Dreamin\u2019 Wild * Definitely Entertaining With Its Toe-Tapping Music And Sincere Performances"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Dreaminwild.poster.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1937\" width=\"95\" height=\"141\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Dreamin<\/em><em>\u2019&nbsp;<\/em><em>Wild<\/em>, the true story of love and redemption, is about what happened to singer\/songwriter Donnie Emerson and his family when the album he and his brother recorded as teens was rediscovered after thirty years of obscurity and was suddenly hailed by music critics as a lost masterpiece. While the album\u2019s rediscovery brings hopes of second chances, it also brings long-buried emotions as Donnie, his wife Nancy, brother Joe, and father Don Sr. come to terms with the past and their newly found fame.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dreamin\u2019 Wild<br>By Eshaan M., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With its toe-tapping music and sincere performances, <em>Dreamin\u2019 Wild <\/em>definitely entertained me and I believe will enrapture pop-rock fans as well as those who have never heard of Donnie and Joe Emerson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eshaan&#039;s Expert Review of Dreamin&#039; Wild Will Open Your Mind\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aLTNRacmcdA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_Beau_Bridges_Walton_Goggings_Barbara_Deering_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1938\" width=\"225\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_Beau_Bridges_Walton_Goggings_Barbara_Deering_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_Beau_Bridges_Walton_Goggings_Barbara_Deering_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_Beau_Bridges_Walton_Goggings_Barbara_Deering_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_Beau_Bridges_Walton_Goggings_Barbara_Deering_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The film tells a true story with immense heart. It is shot elegantly and the story is fascinating; the at-times flat narration is the only chink in <em>Dreamin Wild\u2019s <\/em>armor.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1942\" width=\"225\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Chris_Messina_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Dreamin\u2019 Wild<\/em> opens in the rural Pacific Northwest, as singer\/songwriter Donnie Emerson (Casey Affleck) and his family, are approached by a representative from Light in the Attic, who says he thinks the album Donnie and his brother Joe (Walton Goggins) recorded as teenagers is the next big hit. When the album, also named Dreamin\u2019 Wild, makes its rounds, it is hailed by music critics as a lost masterpiece. And whereas the brothers see this stroke of luck as a second chance for stardom, it also unmoors other deep-seated emotions, fears, and hopes, as Donnie, Joe, and the family come to terms with the past, present and possible future.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x213.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1941\" width=\"225\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The moving story is shot with clarity, care and craft; the lighting and framing do justice to the Emersons\u2019 bucolic hometown as well as their eclectic and ethereal \u2018jam space.\u2019 Casey Affleck has somewhat patented the &#8216;damaged man exploring his trauma\u2019 trope, perhaps because of his real-life experience fending off his demons with alcoholism. That takes nothing away from his deep performance as Donnie in <em>Dreamin\u2019 Wild<\/em>. His portrayal of emotional damage and hope is enough to keep you gripped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walton Goggins is equally spectacular. Every dialogue-heavy scene is followed by the brothers jamming, and then another dialogue-heavy scene; this format gets a little tiring by the 60-minute mark, but the plot developments and emotional performances redeem the film\u2019s at-times slow pace.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Zooey_Deschanel_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1939\" width=\"225\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Zooey_Deschanel_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Zooey_Deschanel_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Casey_Affleck_and_Zooey_Deschanel_in_Dreamin_Wild-Courtesy_of_Roadside_Attractions.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Dreamin\u2019 Wild<\/em> encourages following your dreams but staying grounded, being hopeful but never forgetting where you\u2019ve come from, and caring for your family and yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I give <em>Dreamin\u2019 Wild<\/em> 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18. <em>Dreamin&#8217; Wild<\/em> will release exclusively in theaters on August 4, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dreamin&#039; Wild | Official Trailer  | In Theaters August 4\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CV9Q05R66Nc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dreamin\u2019 Wild, the true story of love and redemption, is about what happened to singer\/songwriter Donnie Emerson and his family when the album he and his brother recorded as teens was rediscovered after thirty years of obscurity and was suddenly hailed by music critics as a lost masterpiece. While the album\u2019s rediscovery brings hopes of second chances, it also brings long-buried emotions as Donnie, his wife Nancy, brother Joe, and father Don Sr. come to terms with the past and their newly found fame. <\/p>\n<p>KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Eshaan M. comments, \u201cWith its toe-tapping music and sincere performances, Dreamin\u2019 Wild definitely entertained me and I believe will enrapture pop-rock fans as well as those who have never heard of Donnie and Joe Emerson. The film tells a true story with immense heart. It is shot elegantly and the story is fascinating; the at-times flat narration is the only chink in Dreamin Wild\u2019s armor.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1934,1932,278,1933,1929,1931,1937,1927,1926,1935,220,954,1930,1936,1928],"class_list":["post-1936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-critics-blog","tag-beau-bridges","tag-bill-pohlad","tag-by-kids-for-kids","tag-casey-affleck","tag-chris-messina","tag-dance","tag-donnie-joe-emerson","tag-donnie-emerson","tag-dreamin-wild","tag-jack-dylan-grazer","tag-movie-reviews","tag-music","tag-noah-jupe","tag-walton-goggins","tag-zooey-deschanel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1936"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1946,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions\/1946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}