Sleepwalking

I watched this movie today and I must say that it was absolutely amazing. It is drama by genre but most of the time this kind of movies are much better than we thought. With four amazing main actors this movie couldn't fail although only two actors, AnnaSophia Robb and Nick Stahl are keeping this movie so good. After Tara's (Robb) mother Joleen (Charlize Theron) leave's her with her uncle James (Nick Stahl) their lives are start to fall down. James gets fired from his job and social service takes Tara to foster home. One day James comes to visit Tara and by her request they leave the city by car in unknown direction. On they trip they would get more closer, and some events will open their eyes from a long dream. Nick Stahl is great as James. His character's childhood was abuse by his father as his sister Joleen. Charlize Theron is solid, but real star of this movie is AnnaSophia Robb. She has only 14 years old and already playing complex roles like this one. She is going in the right way by now.

The director could not have picked better actors for this film than Nick Stahl and AnnaSophia Robb. Every movie that I have seen AnnaSophia act in, she has taken her role seriously, with the fullest extent of her acting ability, and to heart.

Nick plays the uncle, James, and AnnaSophia plays James' niece, Tara. The two are locked in position with their own dark pasts (Tara dealing with her mother's sudden disappearance after her mother had been unable to look after her due to her lifestyle, and James being the dark memories of his abusive father with him and his sister Joleen *Tara's Mother*).

Now, I am not going to get into detail on everything the movie is about, because I honestly think you really should see the film if you haven't already, and I am not going to spoil it. However, the movie takes you to the dark place (Dennis Hopper plays a dark, twisted, and excellent Role as the Father of James and Joleen). It takes you through the emotions of hitting rock bottom, a child's world upside down in the eyes of a 12 year old, a mother's struggle to hold on, and with no other alternative, a return trip to the farm of evil.

10/10 P.S.: When about to watch this film, remember the words of AnnaSophia Robb herself - "You've got to keep your mind wide open."

"Sleepwalking" starts off a bit like "Frozen River," focused on a single mother struggling to make ends meet in rural America (though it was actually filmed in Saskatchewan). But the movie quickly veers off in another direction, shifting that focus onto her 13-year-old daughter, Tara, and her younger brother, James (the girl's uncle), who are suddenly forced to rely on one another for comfort and support when Joleen temporarily bows out of the picture.

When her boyfriend is arrested for growing marijuana, Jolene (Carlize Theron) and Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) are forced to move in with James (Nick Stahl), a soft-spoken, good-hearted fellow in his 20s who is two months behind in his rent and who barely scrapes by on what he makes at his low-paying construction job. Soon, Joleen has split the scene, James has lost his job, and social services has taken Tara to live in a foster-care facility. So James and Tara decide to head out onto the open highway, stopping off at roadside diners and motels, and staying one step ahead of the authorities who are in pursuit of them.

"Sleepwalking" is one of those gritty, slice-of-life dramas that sympathetically and accurately depicts what life is like for the working poor. It is rife with authentic details and rich in small town atmosphere. Director William Mahr and cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchia really know how to extract the essence of a locale for mood and effect, making the bleak landscape and stark setting integral elements in the drama - an effect greatly enhanced by Christopher Young's rich and evocative acoustic-flavored score. Superb, naturalistic performances by the three lead actors make us truly care about the people they are portraying and the things that are happening to them.

"Sleepwalking" is not without its flaws, however. For one thing, the movie undercuts some of its carefully crafted verisimilitude with its casting of "name" actors in a few of the key secondary roles - primarily, Woody Harrelson as James' friend and work buddy, and an over-reaching Dennis Hopper as Joleen and James' abusive dad. These parts would have been more effective had they been played by less-familiar actors (though I do realize that, without such star power attached to the project, a movie like "Sleepwalking" might never have gotten made in the first place). More seriously, the otherwise excellent screenplay by Zac Stanford falls apart a bit in the final third, resorting to stereotyping and hokey melodrama when it most needs to stay true to its characters and their situations.

Still, despite the patness, "Sleepwalking" is a quietly powerful, richly atmospheric tale of a group of troubled but essentially decent people struggling, despite their all-too-human weaknesses, to make their way in the world.

The pacing of this movie is a little slow. There were times when i almost gave up on it, and wanted to stop watching it, but didn't. I am glad i finished this movie because there is something so honest, and pure about the subject matter.

What's great about this movie is it's not flashy like people think movies need to be. It is not over the top, not glamorous. This movie is striped to the bare essence of what it takes to make a good film or better, great acting, and a genuine story line.

The movie has a slow start, but a rapid ending that leaves you wanting more. The characters are really well developed. I feel a close connection to all of them. I feel like they are real people, and that's unusual to feel when watching a movie.

It's a movie about choices, about how one moment can change your life. The decisions we make are not always right, most of them are made on impulse, but we still have to deal with the aftermath, and learn a lesson along the way.

If you peer honestly at this film, it depicts familial dysfunction, and the havoc it engenders in children; they are the innocent creatures that are damaged irrevocably. They say all you need is one person while you are raised who attunes to you lovingly and with empathy; thats all it takes. When you are abused at an early age, you will lack individuation and psychosocial integration. Perchance if you have children, whether you want to or not, you will pass this information on, that is stored in every cell of your body. Braking the generational abusive cycle requires more than knowledge it requires healing. Nick Stahl is a great actor, who gets better with age, using little to say so much. The child actor is decent too.