It's indie, depressing, dark, psychological, slow-paced, disturbing, dramatic, completely unheard of, a couple years old, and hated by almost everybody else... basically, it's right up my alley. Sleepwalking tells the story of a struggling single mother (Charlize Theron) who has had various misguided relationships with abusive, thuggish boyfriends, and her brother James (Nick Stahl)'s relationship with her troubled and cumbersome daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb). As stated previously, the film is slow-paced. It moves from one gloomy set-piece to another, each full of people wearing frowns and woolly hats. It only takes the scene when Tara comes home from school and frustrates her mother to breaking point for the viewer to realise how messed up the life of this family is. We then see Theron's character enjoy a few moments in the spotlight as per usual with her latest boyfriend Randall (Woody Harrelson) but, in fairness, nobody cares. If I wanted to watch a troubled and dysfunctional middle-aged woman battle her way through a string of moronic partners, I'd watch Coronation Street, or Sex and the City, or something. What is far more interesting is the relationship between James and Tara, as the latter becomes more and more detached from her mother and the former loses his job. Tara is placed in a foster home and hates it, at which point they decide to go on the run on limited budget. The couple share many scenes together, and, although their conversations are inconclusive for the most part, the chemistry between the pair is enough to be engaging. What follows is a myriad of long distance shots of the couple on the road, accompanied by various depressing pieces of music, after which the pair decide to change their names and up sticks to James' childhood home, an old ranch which reeks of sadness, abuse and repressed anger from the moment we see it. It is at this point that the film really kicks off. James is at first greeted with relative calm by his redneck thug of a father (Dennis Hopper) but as James and Tara are forced into hard labour of increasing difficulty (coiling a rope, for example - Dennis, how could you expect for a 12-year old misfit living in a suburban environment to be able to coil a rope perfectly right off the box?) we begin to see that he is in fact an abusive, violent and rage-filled character, epitomised by his horrific treatment of his son and of a young girl he has never met, and soon what was meant to be a 'vacation' becomes hell on earth. And then there's the roller-coaster ride that is the final barn scene- child abuse, a sudden release of anger and a somewhat predictable yet still powerful and hard-hitting climax make this an incredibly hot-to-handle piece of cinema, to put it mildly.
Sleepwalking is a film made far stronger by two brilliant performances- Nick Stahl as James, and AnnaSophia Robb as Tara. Stahl is excellent as James, a hard-done by, cowardly (initially) yet pleasant man who only wants the best for himself and his niece. The conversations between Stahl and Robb are convincing despite an iffy script, and Stahl's James is a modest and likable character, his brutal actions at the end of the film perhaps notwithstanding. I've been seeing a lot of Ms Robb lately courtesy of my younger brother's infatuation with her, and, having been through most of her films, I can say with confidence that this, on par with Bridge To Terabithia, is Robb's best performance. If they give Oscars to child actresses, she'd batter have won one for this. She acts with astounding maturity in what is quite a tricky role to play- she must be bratty yet likable, which most would agree is not a personality match made in heaven. However, she more than succeeds in this task - she is very sweet, seems comfortable and manages to act far beyond her years, making even Hollywood A-lister Theron look sub-par. Robb has emerged as to some extent the indie Dakota Fanning, and in my book has far surpassed Dakota's range with some of the projects she has done. The duo completely steal the spotlight in this film, and light it up in spite of its script and slow pace. Moving on, we have a good performance from Hopper as the deliberately despicable father, a relatively good performance from Theron and some very telling shots of the countryside that help set the scene for what is a gloomy and gritty coming-of-age film about the struggles of life. If you're looking for a good time... don't watch this, by any means. If you're looking for a fine piece of indie cinema and fancy some drama, give it a go. 8/10.
Sleepwalking is a film made far stronger by two brilliant performances- Nick Stahl as James, and AnnaSophia Robb as Tara. Stahl is excellent as James, a hard-done by, cowardly (initially) yet pleasant man who only wants the best for himself and his niece. The conversations between Stahl and Robb are convincing despite an iffy script, and Stahl's James is a modest and likable character, his brutal actions at the end of the film perhaps notwithstanding. I've been seeing a lot of Ms Robb lately courtesy of my younger brother's infatuation with her, and, having been through most of her films, I can say with confidence that this, on par with Bridge To Terabithia, is Robb's best performance. If they give Oscars to child actresses, she'd batter have won one for this. She acts with astounding maturity in what is quite a tricky role to play- she must be bratty yet likable, which most would agree is not a personality match made in heaven. However, she more than succeeds in this task - she is very sweet, seems comfortable and manages to act far beyond her years, making even Hollywood A-lister Theron look sub-par. Robb has emerged as to some extent the indie Dakota Fanning, and in my book has far surpassed Dakota's range with some of the projects she has done. The duo completely steal the spotlight in this film, and light it up in spite of its script and slow pace. Moving on, we have a good performance from Hopper as the deliberately despicable father, a relatively good performance from Theron and some very telling shots of the countryside that help set the scene for what is a gloomy and gritty coming-of-age film about the struggles of life. If you're looking for a good time... don't watch this, by any means. If you're looking for a fine piece of indie cinema and fancy some drama, give it a go. 8/10.