By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mike Birbiglia | Seth Barrish
Starring: Carol Kane | James Rebhorn | Lauren Ambrose | Mike Birbiglia
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 80
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2077851/
Jason says: “SLEEPWALK WITH ME may not have a large built-in audience, but fans of writer/director/star Mike Birbiglia and the National Public Radio segments from which this movie evolved may be the exact right niche for an independent film like this to have; who’s going to be more aware of its existence or ready to see it in theaters? They likely won’t be disappointed by how it translates to the big screen, and the good news is that it’s both funny and substantial enough to appeal to a larger audience.
“Matt (Birbiglia) and Abby (Lauren Ambrose) have been dating for eight years, since meeting in college, and in that time they haven’t exactly wound up where they expected: Matt aspires to be a comedian but is still tending bar; Abby is a vocal coach instead of a rock star. Still, they’re pretty comfortable after moving into a new place together, at least until Mike’s sister gets engaged and everyone, especially his parents (James Rebhorn & Carol Kane) starts asking when they’ll finally tie the knot. That he starts sleepwalking right about then probably isn’t a great sign.
“Birbiglia has been honing this autobiographical material for a while, presenting it as part of his act, stories on NPR’s ‘This American Life,’ and as a one-man show. There are plenty of remnants of those other media in the finished product, as Birbiglia tends to address his audience directly; he opens and closes the movie with Matt in a car, addressing the audience as if they’re sitting in the passenger seat, jumping back there on occasion for an aside or a little bit of explanation. Sometimes this narration can seem a little on the nose (following ‘that’s my mom, she does this’ with his mom doing that), but telling stories is the thing that Birbiglia does well, and it would almost be wasteful to insist that someone with that sort of skill limit himself to just acting as if the camera wasn’t there.
“That’s not to say he couldn’t necessarily have handled doing the movie that way; though essentially playing yourself is more difficult than it sounds, he does all right. Better than all right, actually; while he sometimes has the comedian’s tendency to treat every line as a declaration to the audience, he’s also surprisingly good at showing the toll that somnambulism combined with long periods on the road is taking on him mentally and physically. He’s fortunate to have a nice cast to work with, too; Lauren Ambrose, for example, manages to give the audience the other side of this relationship despite neither having any scenes dedicate to Amy nor the chance to address the audience directly. James Rebhorn gets a fair amount of nuance out of the script as the somewhat intrusive father, while Carol Kane unfortunately only gets one note to hit as the mother. Sondra James steals every scene she’s in as the straight-talking agent who takes Matt on.
“Together, Birbiglia, co-director Seth Barrish, Ira Glass and Matt’s brother Joe (the other two screenwriters) make a quite entertaining movie – there are plenty of quality gags executed well, and a surprising amount are visual rather than verbal. Even more impressive is that they get all those laughs without making a complete farce out of the story – as much as Matt’s dreams are often very funny (with excellent design and photography), the depiction of sleepwalking itself is often quite unnerving. And while ‘Matt Pandamiglio’ is not, strictly speaking, Mike Birbiglia, it’s still not easy to re-enact just how self-centered (and hopeless-seeming) one was in one’s youth.
“A good storyteller can’t be afraid of that, though, and if nothing else, Birbiglia has earned a reputation as a guy who can tell a story. It turns out he’s a pretty passable filmmaker as well; at the very least, he’s got no trouble translating this well-honed material to a new medium. 4 cats
“Seen 25 April 2012 in Somerville Theatre #1 (Independent Film Festival Boston 2012, digital)”
Chris says: “Exactly how an artist develops his/her voice often makes for good art itself. Adapted from his autobiographical THIS AMERICAN LIFE radio segments (and co-written by TAL host Ira Glass), stand-up comic Mike Birbiglia’s film is at its best when it considers this process. From the moment his alter ego, Matt, addresses the camera, we get a strong sense of his persona: a guy who would simply come off as a relatable average joe if he wasn’t so quirky and spacey. We soon see his evolution as a performer from a bartender working with eleven minutes of material (largely centered on tired pop culture references like Cookie Monster) to someone who can effortlessly talk about himself—in particular, his long-term relationship with girlfriend Abby (Lauren Ambrose) and his tendency to sleepwalk. Both breed conflict—Abby wants to get married but Matt’s clearly not ready and the sleepwalking, in which he acts out his dreams while not awake often proves physically destructive to both himself and others.
“SLEEPWALK WITH ME feels heavily indebted to ANNIE HALL, albeit Woody Allen’s original conception of it when it was called ANHEDONIA and focused primarily on the Alvy Singer character. As an actor/performer, Birbiglia has a compelling presence; as a first-time co-director (with actor Seth Barrish), however, he’s a little shaky and could have benefited from working with a seasoned filmmaker open to collaboration—someone who could have kept Birbiglia’s vision intact while also shaping it into something a little more cinematic (the sleepwalking sequences, for instance, are competent but mostly lack visual flair). Ambrose is likable and Abby fleshed-out enough without distracting too much sympathy away from Matt; the film also features nice, smaller turns from Carol Kane (delightfully eccentric as ever) and James Rebhorn as Matt’s parents and comic Marc Maron (as a droll version of himself). Although it’s hard imagining it finding much of an audience beyond TAL listeners and stand-up comedy fans, it altogether feels like an endearing (if somewhat shambolic) labor of love and thus not too hard to like. 4 cats
“(Screened at the 2012 Independent Film Festival of Boston)”