Sleepwalk with Me

While I admit I'm a huge stand-up comedy fan, you don't have to be to fall in love with Mike Birbigla or his "factionalized" character, Matt. A funny, honest, sad (but never too sad) autobiographically inspired road trip through Matt's 20's that features some wonderful performances by Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane and James Rebhorn. I spent the 90 minutes alternating between laughter and wishing I could reach through the screen and slip a Xanax into Matt's beer. I dragged along my 14 year old daughter, who smiles or speaks rarely in my presence these days, and she not only loved it but enthusiastically discussed it with me for an hour afterwords. I only wish it were longer. I could have easily spent the entire afternoon riding shotgun with Matt.

Matt Pandamiglio (Mike Birbiglia) is a loser struggling comedian who's actually more of a comedy club bartender. His girlfriend Abby (Lauren Ambrose) is too good for him. Abby pressures him to marry her, and he starts walking in his sleep under the stress.

Mike Birbiglia's semi-autobiographical one-man show is turned into a movie. It has the air of real life. However I just couldn't shake the question that probably everybody asked while watching this movie. "Why did she stay with this loser?" Mike probably played up his loserness too much at the beginning. His acting at the start had no energy at all. It just made it hard to understand why Abby would ever stay with him. There is an imaginative explanation based on real life. But it still isn't quite satisfying.

Sleepwalk with Me is an enjoyable movie. However, I have heard Mike Birbiglia tell this story on stage, and I think it plays out better as a monologue. As a film, this story doesn't have much of a climax and it ends rather abruptly. The lack of real resolution might be frustrating to some viewers, but Sleepwalk with Me still has undeniable charm, and it's a fascinating look into the life of a comedian.

Not hilarious, but an interesting story that's partially based on real life events. I've enjoyed Birbiglia's stand up so I eased into this effortlessly. Not sure if non fans will enjoy it but I think it's worth a shot.

I saw this movie because I heard about it from Joss Whedon's "boycott." Before I sat down to watch it I glanced at the IMDb rate of 6.7, so I figured take it in on my day off while at home on netflix with nothing else to do. It turned out I loved it. The film follows Matt as he attempts to break into stand up comedy and juggle a relationship with his girlfriend of 8 years, as well as cope with some extreme bouts of sleepwalking. Now this is listed as a comedy, but it's not like comedies that other comedians put out, like Will Ferrell, and I wonder if that's part of the reason for the low ranking. Really the story is a serious one but told in a lighthearted but honest way.

If there were some downsides they would be first that, visually it's nothing special, it looks good but not great. Second, is not so much a downside for me as it would be for what I assume it was for some of the people who gave it negative reviews, (indeed I did see people cite this very reason in their reviews) and that is the ending. The film follows the typical film plot structure up to a point and then it strays from what most people would see as typical. I won't spoil anything but I will say this, I was surprised but then again it makes you think. And that is where it really knocked it out of the park for me. I was a little miffed at first but, the film then leaves you with a thought, which made me re-think the movie and it all came together.

I don't think the average movie goer wants to have a revelation at the end of a movie unless that revelation was "It was all a dream(or was it?)" or "He was dead the whole time."

All in all, the movie is an honest, lighthearted look at an event from Mike Birbiglia's life. A movie that will make you laugh at least a little bit, and you might even take something away from it. If you JUST want to laugh, well go watch the latest Will Ferrell movie.