Review of Sleepwalking (2008) by Andrew P — 07 Jul 2008

Kicked out of her home, Joleen (Charlize Theron) and her 12-year-old daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) head over to the dilapidated apartment of her brother, James (Nick Stahl), to regroup. When life becomes too much for Joleen, she takes off, leaving James and Tara to fend for themselves, handing the quiet young man a pre-teen he can't properly care for.

Soon losing his job, apartment, and Tara to the foster care system, James is left with nothing. Feeling the pinch, James kidnaps Tara at her request and the two hit the road under assumed names looking for shelter and hopefully Joleen.

Robb, who is an astonishingly mature actor for age and Stahl develop an absorbing onscreen relationship both as their characters and as performers working against each other. But the story is lacking both a historical context and we don't know enough about the childhood of Stahl's James to really appreciate the surprising act the film culminates in and a compelling reason for being told at all in the present moment.

Hopper's role is critical to the tension of the film, but his offerings come late in the game and fail to illuminate the emptiness inside James in a satisfying manner. Much like the characters, the movie wanders around searching for meaning, and when it finally finds something to say, it's much too late to make a difference.