In My Sleep

a thriller. like too many others. a good looking guy. a murder. few drops of Freud. discover of the most important things in life. and a sleep problem who could remind Hitchcock. it is not easy to say if it is a bad film. because the rules of genre are respected, the performances are decent, the lead actor tries to do his job in reasonable manner. sure, something missing. but , no surprise. because it is one of many thrillers who, using few high level concepts, are only examples of an old and useful recipes.

I'll confess, the main reason I decided to watch 'In my sleep' was due to that somewhat sexy poster.

Philip Winchester stars as Marcus, that sexy guy on the poster. If that poster is what drawn you to the movie, you won't be disappointed, as the film delivers more than a generous portion of eye candy. With Marcus being a sex addict - and having a gorgeous body - they find every excuse to show him shirtless.

The film starts with Marcus waking up covered in blood, with a bloodied knife on the floor... and he has no recollection of what happened. The film then goes back in time 40 days. Marcus is a sleepwalker, and sometimes even wakes up in a graveyard. A Guy walking in his sleep probably shouldn't sleep in his underwear, but hell, it makes for a good viewing experience!

That aside, 'In my sleep' is a fairly interesting film. It plays like a murder mystery, only different. This time Marcus fears he might have killed in his sleep, and is trying to trace what could have happened. With his best friend's wife being found murdered, he decides to do his own investigation.

There's a subtle love interest here as well. When Marcus decides to get help for his sex addiction by joining Sexaholics Anonymous, he starts a plutonic relationship with fellow sex addict Gwen (Abigail Spencer). There's quite a few twists involving Marcus' best friend and employer Justin, and Marcus' neighbour Becky, and Marcus himself.

'In my sleep' might not have the best script, but it was intriguing and entertaining, and I rather enjoyed it.

Okay, i gotta say this. The 1st time i saw the title of the movie, it doesn't really ring my thrilled-bell. I thought it was just a lame, boring movie that i can watch when i don't have other movie to watch anymore. But, I'm surely glad that i watched it last night.

This movie is brilliant. I mean the plot. It kept me wondering whether it is true or not that he is sleepwalking (and who the real murderer is). When the time that you thought the case is solved, it's just kept coming with a new plot. And keep you wondering again. I just love this kind of movie.

But, there is this slight parts where i think won't be necessary in this movie. They could just be cut out. I'm not gonna say which parts.

But, frankly, in average, i would recommend you this movie.

Allen Wolf makes a fairly impressive writing/directing debut with this tense little thriller. Though there are many aspects of the film that seem like it is a very low budget, quickly produced little grade B movie, the presence of Philip Winchester makes it work. Not only is this actor first class eye candy, he holds a character well and makes us believe a rather implausible plot.

Marcus (Philip Winchester) suffers from parasomnia (a category of sleep disorders that involves abnormal and unnatural movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep. Most parasomnias are dissociated sleep states which are partial arousals during the transitions between wakefulness and NREM sleep, or wakefulness and REM sleep). He awakens with blood stained hands and when he hears that a close friend Ann (Kelly Overton) has been murdered he fears the worst. His best friend tries to be supportive but the police disrupt Marcus' own investigation of his behavior patterns when they come to arrest him for the murder. How the story ends is wracked with suspense and keeps the audience in suspense to the last minute.

The supporting cast is spotty, but Lacey Chabert, Abigail Spencer and even Kirsten Vangsness from The Mentalist television series give solid support. This is not a great movie but it is a chance to watch Philip Winchester grow beyond his previous roles and become a solid leading man.

Grady Harp

This film starts with a great idea, that a young man with a severe and unusual form of insomnia may have murdered someone while sleepwalking. If only the people who wrote and produced this film knew what to do with it. Unfortunately, they weren't up to the challenge. The result is a cheap-looking murder mystery that's completely ordinary. The low budget shows and it's more like watching a television episode than a motion picture. In fairness, The film could have been worse. It is tolerable and at times it's mildly interesting. Also, women who watch will enjoy the site of the hunky lead Phillip Winchester shirtless much of the time. My only complaint is that it could have been so interesting and so suspenseful, much better than it was. Alfred Hitchcock could have worked wonders with the idea.