Movie review: The Science of Sleep
What you need to know: A native Spanish speaker, talking in English throughout the movie, is conned by his French speaking mother to move to Paris. His next door neighbor who speaks French with an English accent finds his quirky character interesting and fuels his delusions while simultaneously being surprised at his more unusual behaviors.
Why you should go: Because the undergrad you’re dating will be impressed by the existence of subtitles but not turned off by having to read too much as most of the film is in English. The compulsory open ending in any non-American film will also allow you to play the “what if” game over drinks afterward.
Why you shouldn’t go: Because this movie is a great example of Hollywood trying to apply the least common denominator formula to yet another film genre. Additionally, this movie suffers from a severe lack of violence, nudity or continuity in its plot.
The description of the movie led me to conclude that what I was going to witness was the story of whimsical man with an overbearing imagination meeting the love of his life in a foreign land. In actuality, the movie comes off more like a filmed exploration of an acid trip gone bad than any of the aforementioned marketing drivel. Interspersed among the moments of dementia are little factoids about the human sleep cycle which I can only guess have been placed there to justify the word “Science” in the movie’s title. Substantial effort is exerted to try and portray the protagonist as a lovable character by juxtaposing his bumbling self with the mean spirited and lifeless personalities of those around him (no, he wasn’t working in investment banking.). Evaluated on his own however, the need for greater social skills and lessons in emotional intelligence become apparent.
The “sleep” portion of the title comes from the many waking dreams the protagonist experiences during his day. Whacky stop motion animations draw the visual line between the two states, with a mock TV show introducing the audience to the thought processes behind the performances. The color schemes between the two states are very similar, guiding us again toward the realization that perhaps some of his imagined escapades have actually occurred in the real world. As I’m sure you can imagine, these intra-state mix-ups lead to embarrassing moments which tend to drive the romantic angle of our story. Watching the love connection between the French speaking English accented neighbor and our English speaking Spanish accented protagonist is akin to watching a whale knit. The same level of boy/girl awkwardness can be witnessed every week at TNDC, meaning you can spend your $8.50 admission fee on a couple of beers and get the same show. Also like a drunken TNDC conversation, the movie tries to do too much in too little time. We’re introduced to a variety of characters and sub-plots which often do nothing to aid in our understanding of the characters or helping to move the movie’s plot along. The biggest complaint I have is that the movie seems like a watered down version of a foreign film. It was clearly produced with an English-speaking audience in mind, removing any of the charm of hearing native speakers converse in their natural dialogue.
In all fairness, the movie is not without its charms. Jokes, situational comedy and fantasy sequences all contribute to make the film a unique offering in the typical sex and violence filled Hollywood lineup. You will also learn that a tube based television set floats in water (don’t try that with a plasma), although now that you know that a reason for seeing the movie has been removed. My recommendation is that unless you’re looking for a date movie, wait for the DVD release of “Science of Sleep” and go see “The Departed” instead.