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!!!!!!

source: The Perfect Sleep

This film had a lot of voice-over... and by that I mean the bulk of the film is a voice-over. Hey, we all love William Holden, right? Now imagine Sunset Blvd. Or Stalag 17, and now imagine them voiced over from start-to-finish. That is the Perfect Sleep. Take William Holden face down, dead in the pool, and expand the narration to an endless drone for the majority of the film and that is what you have here. The actors didn't really act, the didn't have the chance with all the voice-over work. And what is meant to be stylish came across as the kind of thing you and your friends would put into the film you made for your 10th grade Creative Writing class you took back in the 90s when indie films ruled. It doesn't really age well, mainly because people grow up.

Spoiler Ahead! This is without a doubt one of the slowest moving, boring movies I have tried to stay awake through. the monotone and almost monochrome atmosphere of the flick is the perfect anecdote for an insomniac. Not to mention the tired old plot of the evil prince or black knight captures the fair maiden and then the White Knight has to come and rescue her. Same olé, same olé. And not to mention the unrequited love from the white knight, again, same olé. The director should be shot for unleashing such a dragging pace to a movie that does display and exhibit some wonderful cinematography and clever use of shadows, camera angles and excellent film noir narration. The fight scenes are almost laughable with how much punishment the star takes and then within a few hours is completely rehabilitated and ready for action. While most humans would be laid up in a hospital after being kicked repeatedly and severely about the head, shoulders and body. Oh well it is a movie after all. Albeit one that I watched free with my NetFlix streaming subscription and an Apple TV. I'm beginning to understand why these movies are on the NetFlix service. Maybe I'm showing my age but we just went to the theater and saw 'The BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL' and I highly recommend it to lovers of the cinema. Nice pace, great acting and wonderful story.

The film is visually interesting, and has a plot that I found needed a second viewing to fully appreciate. Intellectually stimulating, really gripping make believe. It is melodramatic and has its flaws. Some of the acting moments are weak, particularly from the lead actress in the finale. Others are superbly acted, and I thought the lead actor particularly well cast. As well as many of the supporting roles. There are gory moments and one particularly memorable chilling character. Nit pickers won't find perfection here but this is one of few films I've enjoyed re-watching - three times now, and will probably do so again.

Why is so many analyzing movies to death? While it in a lot of cases it is a good thing, more people should just enjoy the mood and feeling in a movie. If people start thinking too much, they will miss a lot of good entertainment. The Perfect Sleep is a good example of this. It has its flaws to be sure, but I loved the idea of the film, the narration and its mood. The thing, for me, is that in 99% of all American movies, you have to park the brain and just enjoy the movie for what it is, brainless and a good show. This is not quite the case here! It's quite intelligent in it's way, and a bit over the top in parts. The main character is this tough guy, who you would think is this great fighter, but really is an extreme survivor with a lot of fighting skills without being that good at it. Great movie!!

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.

The Perfect Sleep, while not a brilliant film does represent the ever-shrinking genre of watchable neo-noir. While it's certainly flawed, it lacks much of the intentional overly complex that robs many similar movies of their enjoyability (why watch a movie that's needlessly hard to follow?). Then again, it's not exactly a movie you can switch your brain off for. Normally someone would put some sort of plot synopsis here, but if you've ever seen any type of noir film you know such an endeavor is pointless. They're usually a bit hard to follow and that can be part of their intrigue. Most noir-ish films rely heavily on the dialog (usually in ways that most people would never use in regular conversation), characters of moral ambiguity, and comparably lavish sets. The Perfect Sleep is no different, with the possible exception of most action sequences involving martial arts. Not sure I'd seen that before. All in all the film comes out looking a lot like a seriously less flashy and more intelligent version of Sin City or The Spirit (the latter being complete garbage). That's actually a big plus for me as a fan of (some) noir films. While I enjoyed Sin City I always felt like it was just trying to do too much visually that took away from an arguably cool story, so that actually works well for me. Aside from the somewhat vague plot I'd say this would be at least enjoyable for fans of the genre. You don't see too many of these films these days and you see ever fewer done well.

From PASTO, COLOMBIA-Via: L. A. CA; CALI, COLOMBIA+ORLANDO, FL --------------- The ONLY Tony Kiss Castillo on FaceBook! ----------------- One must apply powers of divination as to director Jeremy Alter's intentions. Location Manager on high-profile films, long before and since, SLEEP seems to be an obviously ill-fated foray into film direction. ("Location Managers Gone Wild"?) In its conceptualization, SLEEP was projected to become a larger-than-life, neoclassic, film noir, somnambulist 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? Desired or not, that's 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! (Fleeting moments, indeed!) Movie locations were ONE 10* element. Mr. Alter certainly does have a good eye...All other visual aspects 7 or 8*. Just about every other aspect rates 2 or 3*! Overall: 4*.... ENJOY/DISFRUTELA! (If You Can Manage) Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

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.