Colin Farrell on his 'Dream' character, life and Woody Allen

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The world may not be ready for Colin Farrell's latest role. After filling his resume with iconic historical figures and larger-than-life action heroes and villains, the Irish actor is playing a normal guy -- almost -- in "Cassandra's Dream.""It was very liberating to not have to be cool or pretend like you're cool," says the star of such films as "Miami Vice," "Alexander" and "The New World." "There's absolutely no pomp or circumstance to this piece at all. It's very bare."It's a very raw story about incredibly human men who are suffering from the flaws that all of us have, but to a greater degree."In writer-director Woody Allen's new film, now in theaters, Farrell plays Terry, a London mechanic with a good heart and a bad gambling addiction."Terry's a character that has absolutely no heroic aspirations at all," says Farrell by phone from New York. "He doesn't want to be the best at anything. He doesn't spend his nights or days dreaming about things that are outside of his environment."Terry's brother, Ian, played by Ewan McGregor, is the opposite."Ian's very ambitious, very driven," says Farrell, 31. "Terry ... some would call him a slacker. ... He wants his girl and maybe (to have) a family, have a nice little life, and that'll do him."Unfortunately, Terry and Ian both need large amounts of cash to get out of their respective jams. Their uncle (Tom Wilkinson), a wealthy plastic surgeon/businessman, has a quick job for them -- a favor, really -- but carrying it out defies moral as well as statutory laws.Allen's screenplay incorporates Westerners' thirst for more -- more than they need, more than their neighbors have."Everywhere you look -- more," says Farrell. "And everywhere you look it's about competition."We seem to, as a people in the Western world, spend too much time competing with those to the left, right, in front of or behind us instead of competing with ourselves and trying to realize our own individual potential."There's always gonna be somebody better than you, always gonna be somebody worse than you. And we don't really spend enough time just trying to be as good as we can be."It's an incredibly materialistic world. As we judge ourselves and we judge others, we are judged based on our material wealth."Farrell hopes he breaks the mold somewhat."I've got a nice house and a grand car and stuff, and I travel enough -- not just with work, but on me own dime as well," says Farrell, who'll soon be seen in the action comedy "In Bruges" and the police drama "Pride and Glory." "But I think I have an idea of some of the things that are truly important in life."I also have kind of a respectable understanding of the frivolity of other things that are offered up that may seem important from the outside looking in but aren't. ... It's a lot to do with where I come from, the people I'm born of, not just my immediate family but the city, Dublin; the country, Ireland."Farrell, who caught Hollywood's eye when he played a Vietnam-bound private in director Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland," felt comfortable with the tone of Allen's script."Woody's been heavily influenced by the Greek tragedies, and I think there's an element of that to this," he says. "The whole thing is weighty. People ... get used to expecting a certain thing, and they go into the picture house expecting to see a Woody Allen film, whatever their idea of a Woody Allen film is, and this does feel very different."It feels a lot more dour and a lot more melodramatic than a lot of the things that he's done."Like many actors, Farrell jumped at the chance to work with the esteemed director."He's just one of the great storytellers," says Farrell. "He's got a keen eye for human behavior and for both the folly of times and the tragedy of times that can be experienced throughout the living of a life."So it really is one of those things where, for me, certainly, getting offered a chance, it was as close to a no-brainer as you can get."(Contact Betsy Pickle of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)