The Lathe Of Heaven

Based on Ursula K. Le Guin's novel and made for public television in 1979, this landmark sci-fi picture had been unbroadcast since 1983 when it finally surfaced on video in 2000. Essentially a classy variation on the admonition to be careful what you wish for because you just might get it, it was the first original film ever produced for public television and acquired a strong cult following on the basis of a handful of showings. The place is Portland, OR, in "the near future;" the world is overpopulated, polluted and on the road to war. Portland is soaked by a constant, drenching rain. George Orr (Bruce Davison), a 32-year-old troubled by vivid dreams, overdoses o...