Cassandra's Dream ***

Writer/Director Woody Allen's latest drama, "Cassandra's Dream," the third in his recent English period, is a tale of two London brothers, ambitious in two different ways: one is an auto mechanic with a dream of owning a sports shop, while the other chafes at running his ailing father's restaurant and dreams of investing in a big deal that will open up a life in California. Allen's brothers are well-drawn and believable, with similar traits, but telling differences. Mechanic Terry (Colin Farrell) has a propensity to play the dogs and wager in poker games that are too high-stakes for his means. Budding businessman Ian (Ewan McGregor) has made some bad investments before, but his luck is sure to change, he thinks, with this next deal. This is a different social level than we have seen Allen examine before.

We first meet the brothers as they are buying a small sailboat, which they later name "Cassandra's Dream" after Terry's winning pick in a dog race. You figure, and are later assured, that neither knows much about Greek mythology or drama, or else they would not have named their vessel for the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, blessed to have prescient dreams, but cursed to never be believed, especially when the outcome will be tragic. The brothers soon find themselves in difficulty, as Terry gets in way over his head with loan sharks, and Ian needs some serious money to follow through with an investment that will impress his beautiful new actress girlfriend (a luscious Hayley Atwell).

Enter rich Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), who is willing help the boys out, but at a price they never imagined. Crossing the line into crime, reactions of the brothers afterwards shows how different their characters are. The character flaws in each lead inexorably to an unforeseen end, as Ian's guiltless amorality clashes with Terry's tortured obsession.

Throughout, I thought the dialog and development of the brothers was excellent, and McGregor and Farrell especially, down to his greasy fingernails, do fine work at bringing their characters to life. Tom Wilkinson is also convincing, as is Terry's girlfriend Kate (Sally Hawkins). The locations in London and in the countryside are perfect. What I found lacking was suspense. Much of the action, as in Greek drama, takes place off stage, which is fine when it provokes the imagination. The last scene, for example, is quite arresting for this reason. But mostly the movie plods along. There are some surprises in the action, which is good, but for me there was none of the nail-biting suspense of "Match Point" in this movie. I classify "Cassandra's Dream" with a number of other interesting Woody Allen projects that entertain and engage, and raise questions about morality in our time, but do not thrill or satisfy.

Rated PG-13. 108 Minutes. Written and directed by Woody Allen. Produced by Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Gareth Wiley. Distributed in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company. Principal actors: Ewan McGregor, Collin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, Sally Hawkins, and Hayley Atwell.