Every genre has it's time and place. Whether it's action, epic, fantasy or simply drama, different genres popularity rises and falls based on audience's interest. One of the most rare genres these days are live action family films, which although are still a hot commodity, they only come in one form these days. That is animation.

It has been a while since we have seen a good live action family film. The trend that was started by Free Willy, back in mid 90s, a tale about a boy and his friendship with a Whale. It was followed by many others like it such as The Indian in the Cupboard, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Black Beauty and many more.

Enters world of computer animation and the family film genre fades away. In the past five years we haven't had many live action family films with few exceptions like Whale Rider and Spy Kids films. Despite striking critical acclaim, not any of those films were able to give the genre a new life. But that will change now, thanks to DreamWorks upcoming family film Dreamer starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning.

Dreamer is a story about of dreams, passions, hope, struggles, triumph, adversity, and love. These paramount themes revolve around one central theme of family. A word that we hear about a lot but to what capacity do we actually understand it. Dreamer is a close to a perfect film that defines this word during one of the most unsettling period of mankind.

On September 10th, Dreamer had it's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thompson Hall. Surrounded by media and cameras the entire cast of the film along with first time feature director John Gatnis attended the premiere. The Gala presentation opened with John's introduction where he thanked everyone from the cast to the studio to Steven Spielberg and saluted DreamWorks production head, Adam Goodman.

Minutes following that, the curtains opened and began what will become the most heartwarming film of this season. The film opens with a beautiful scenery in Kentucky full of nature's glamour and sweet score by John Debney. The aerial shot comes down and shows us one small lonely house in the middle of nowhere foreshadowing the leading characters in this story. Every cast member attending the premiere received an applause when their name surfaced the screen.

Dakota Fanning who was in Steven Spielberg's event film War of the Worlds few months ago plays Cale Crane, daughter to The Cranes played by Kurt Russell and Elizabeth Shue. This 11 year old actor continues to outdo herself film after film. Many loved her performance in War of the Worlds but some found it irritating with her consistent screaming. The performance in Dreamer will put a seal on the critics as she gives the best performance of her four year career.

We haven't seen much of Kurt Russell lately except this past summer family film (Sky High) and let me just say that in Dreamer his character stood out than anything he has ever done in his career. Kurt does a magnificent job in capturing the essence of a father who has hard time connecting with his daughter. And when he does that, you don't see an actor performing but a father's love for his daughter.

Elizabeth Shue who provided the supporting role doesn't really have a story of her own and as a filmmaker I can understand the reason behind it. Writer & Director John Gantis very smartly threw her in the mix as a conscious to Kurt Russell's character.

Other supporting actors such as Kris Kristofferson (Pop), Luis Guzman (Balon) and Freddy Rodriguez (Mandelo) also served rightful to their characters. Credit goes to Guzman and Rodriguez for comic relief in this emotionally charge drama. Usually, humour seems to be forced in dramatic films but but Gantis incorporated the two rather cleverly.

The heart warming score by John Debney matches seamlessly with the beautiful cinematography by Fred Murphy. The gorgeous farm settings in Kentucky are perfect backdrop for this inspirational tale. The Grammy Award Winning Violinist Joshua worked with the composer to create some genius piece of work. Be sure to get this soundtrack when it goes on sale next month.

On the whole Dreamer is a story about dreams lost and regained with some great characters given birth by some outstanding performances. In his directorial debut, John Gatins has struck gold in every department. This feel good story is a must for families and adults alike. It is a celebration of human spirit revolving around a father and daughter love story.