Review of Sleepwalk with Me (2012) by James L — 08 Feb 2013

Quick Review:

Sleepwalk with me is surprisingly delightful film.

It stars comedian Mike Birbiglia as a struggling comedian who works as a bartender at a small comedy club. When his sister gets engaged Mike is forced to exam his own relationship which seems to be moving too fast for him, even though it's been 8 years in the making. As the pressure mounts to get his life in gear and his girlfriend begins to want more from the relationship Mike starts to sleepwalk. Struggling to jump start his comedic career Mike continues to ignore his increasingly dangerous night habits.

This film relates to anyone in their 20-30s who is struggling to "make it" and also is a bit of a "commitaphobe". It's strange how the main character seems to trade the "girl of his dreams" for his career. I mean the girl is beautiful, smart, forgiving and supporting and way out of his league. What more do you want? Maybe it's the morale of the story that you can't have both.

Although, it is true that Mike seems to not be completely out of his shell and that might be one of the main reasons his comedy isn't working; along with his parents having a very rocky relationship Mike is too afraid to tell his girlfriend truths that are mean but are also funny and relatable to his audience.

The film is designed with narration and quirky cuts to strange scenes, it adds a great charm to the film. It's well edited and has good pacing.

Spoiler: I think it's a great compliment to the film that the film that the couple can break up but in the end but the audience is left with the feeling that everything turned out for the best.