The Perfect Sleep

"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!!!!!!

This was such a terrible film, almost a comedy sketch of a noir film.The budget was low compared to a blockbuster, but still higher than most.But its where they've decided to cut costs that is totally weird.Some actors are at least competent, while others look like they just been dragged off the street.One of them being the lead actor, hes so very bad that i cringed when ever he said anything (he talks through the ENTIRE movie).Then there's the weird costume choices.At the start of the movie all characters are wearing 1930's clothes.They drive a classic car, but the background is a modern day windfarm thats blatantly state of the art.And the costumes and some settings continue to follow this 30's film noir theme.Then BAM in drives a brand new escalade with 24 inch rims....WTF.Same thing again when a guy has a night scope on his rifle, you get a shot down its sight.Hes aiming at a guy with an mp5 and tactical gear on.In a even stranger contrast the locations are brilliant, and seem to have cost more than the rest of the entire film.The camera shots/angles a very good, and show these locations brilliantly in the scenes.The director has a keen eye for a good looking single shot, but no idea how to do much else.

People who should be shot for this film▼

The writer The director The casting agent The costume designer

People who should be tortured to death for their monotone, monotonous nails on chalk board voice.▼

Anton Pardoe- the lead actor, writer, producer If you ever seen the movie Hostel, i wish that would happen to this guy, but he doesn't escape.

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.

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.

The Perfect Sleep is a prime example of a B-movie film noir. It recalls the methods of Tarantino in that its direction shows a love for movie making. Unfortunately the downs of this outweighs the ups.

What we have here is a deliciously gorgeous picture, well shot, but also equipped with a screenplay which tries too hard to be something that is out of reach. The story is convoluted, messy, with pretentious dialogue, and too many characters whose functions are minimal. It is a delightful film to look at, but an impossible one to invest in. It is as if the makers of The Perfect Sleep would rather have the viewers acknowledge that they are watching a movie rather than be involved.

I enjoyed watching one illustruious image after another, but I could not follow this movie at all. The Perfect Sleep is basically a film that likes to show off, but not everything gets through to us.