Brothers GRIM

"It's just a family problem," is a line Ian (Ewan McGregor) uses repeatedly in "Cassandra's Dream." On some occasions he's excusing his brother Terry (Colin Farrell), whose addiction to gambling and drink creates ugly difficulties for the pair. Other times he's deflecting attention from the murder plot their wealthy uncle (Tom Wilkinson) proposes as the solution to their money issues. The tension between clan loyalty and the impossible demands of family members is the recurring theme of Woody Allen's edgy suspense tale, which adroitly mixes crime drama and Greek tragedy.

Ian, who wants to escape working in the family restaurant before he is doomed to his dad's life of mediocrity, is a schemer. He's brainier and more ambitious than Terry. He spots a life-changing deal in an investment opportunity with a California hotel chain, but hasn't got the cash to buy in. When Terry's luck deserts him, leaving him in over his head with loan sharks, both men are desperate for money.

Luckily, Uncle Howard, a rich surgeon, has always provided for the family in times of need. This time, though, the aid comes with a condition. A former colleague is about to testify against Howard in an inquiry that could ruin him. If his nephews can make the problem go away, he could make theirs vanish in turn.

Howard, a masterful manipulator, presents the killing to his nephews as a distasteful but necessary chore. Dealmaker Ian is easier to persuade. He's shocked by Howard's request but doesn't reject it on ethical principles; his objection is "the imbalance" between what they must do for what they get. When Howard sweetens the deal, Ian sees the scheme as a matter of good return on investment. Terry, a stranger to cold calculation, resists strenuously, but the looming physical threat to him and his fiancée, coupled with Ian's insistence, defeats his scruples.

There's palpable tension in the final chapters, with Ian's fortunes rising while Terry crumbles. Allen has long been recognized as a great director of actresses, but here he brings his magic to work on an actor who has never quite delivered on his early promise. I don't think I've seen a better male performance in an Allen movie, and I know I've never seen a better one from Farrell. McGregor's amoral striver and Wilkinson's avuncular villain are top-notch work, too.

Allen's austere, carefully plotted story is the opposite of a whodunit. It's a why- and how-dunit. What fascinates him is the way the characters convince themselves that a killing is doable, gradually talk themselves into arranging it and deal with the repercussions. Or die trying.

Colin Covert • 612-673-7186