The Perfect Sleep

Film Noire is a genre that requires a certain level of tact, cleverness, intellect, and imagery. This movie has none of that, though they really tried hard with the imagery.

It's the kind of movie that your cousin Marky the dump truck driver, who's always talking about how he's going to make it big in the movies someday, would make.

The dialogue is wooden and lifeless. The visuals, while obviously expensive to make, are the work of a director who has tried to be clever and failed miserably due to a severe lack in cerebral ability. The acting ranged from sub-par to just plain bad. The story might have been salvaged by a real writer and director, but I suspect that such people would not have touched it with a barge pole.

About 1/4 of the way through, I noticed striking similarities with the scene in Sim0ne where Viktor, desperate to be rid of his actress, makes the world's worst movie. I figured I'd check IMDb to see if a similar effect has occurred in this movie, and to my surprise it has. I'd almost be tempted to give a 2 out of 10 just because it's exposed the pretentious groupies, but I won't. It's that bad.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. I think it is a fine example of modern Film-Noire. It's true, the plot is a little too vague, the lack of societal context reduces it's sense of authenticity and realism, and the voice-over narration could have been used less or perhaps eliminated completely. Overall though, it's a great mood piece and visually sumptuous and stunning. The beautiful Ms. Sanchez allowed me to feel the pain of her relationship with the hero. This film had a lot of potential to be a true masterpiece, but the flaws bring it down to the level of great genre piece. I would highly recommend it to fans of the genre, but, it's not a film I would recommend to the casual viewer.

I would say the narration was inane but, that would mean it had to have sense or substance, which it didn't.

The storyline was little more than that contrived by a ten year old boy with constipation while sitting on the pot.

If we still had coal fires we could use the lacklustre script and wooden acting to light the fire.

If vitality is the characteristic which distinguishes living things from nonliving things, we may now bury this and not bother with a wake.

I would like to say that this digital diatribe had no redeeming features at all but, it does have one, a visual one, and that is the beauty of Roselyn Sanchez.

This is the first time I feel the need to comment on IMDb, to write some sort of a review and, as it so often happens, it's not because of a really excellent film, but a truly appalling one.

Take the narrating style the youngest might relate to the Max Payne video game series, a cast of virtually unkonwns (which is not a bad thing in itself), poor dialogs, some dark scenes but not many enough, and make a film out of it. Don't worry about the bad acting, the length (way too long), the lack of immersion (the lead character has to be one of the lest interesting I've seen in a long time - couldn't care less if he died) or the often ridiculous solutions they find to certain problems the lead character finds himself in.

I wouldn't have written anything if it hadn't been for another review here, giving it 10 stars. I gave it four, but maybe three is closer to what I feel about it. Not only do I not wish to see it again, but the mere thought of it takes me dangerously close to wanting to kill myself. Oh, and a so called noir film is nothing without a good soundtrack - not the case here. The ending song sounds like it was more suitable to a western movie.

It's not romance, it's not action, it's not noir, it's not good. That would be my review if it weren't for the minimum of 10 lines.

"The PERFECT SLEEP".... could be The Perfect Title, if it refers to the reaction it elicits from viewers! One can only apply powers of divination as to director Jeremy Alter's intent. Location Manager on a number of high-profile films, long before and since, "Sleep" seems to be 1 of only 2 obviously ill-fated forays into film direction. (How about: "Location Managers Gone Wild"?)

Seems ro me that, in its conceptualization at least, "Sleep" was destined to become a larger-than-life, neo-classic, film noir, somnambulant visionary dreamlike masterpiece!!!!! Sorry, Jeremy, only in your "Perfect Sleep" dreams! From beginning to end, the central character delivers an incessantly droning voice-over monotone narration. Was this intended to lull the viewer to sleep or some semi-hypnotic state? Desired or not, that is the effect it had on me!

Looking at the finished product, the execution didn't achieve 10% of what was envisioned. There were a few moments when it seemed "Sleep" was, at last, awakening, but they were fleeting moments, indeed. The movie locations were the only 10* element IMO. Mr. Alter does have a good eye, I'd rate all other visual aspects 6 to 8*. Every other non-visual aspect, and I've run though a dozens in my mind, rates 1 to 2 Stars. Overall: 4**** "The Perfect Sleep"

ENJOY!!! / DISFRUTELA!!! .... If You CAN!!!!!!