Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

trashgang I found this for me unknown flick at a sell-out of a rental shop. Somehow it attracted me and let me say this, I didn't regret it. The main lead and for most part in visual is Jeff Daniels. He already had a lot of movies but none of them was made for me. It was with a bit of fear that I plugged it in just to see an average thriller or maybe a horror. Let me tell you it's not average. It's a superb performance by Daniels. Chasing Sleep was also the work of Michael Walker writer and director. And being his first full feature well he's someone to look forward to. But 10 years later he's still hasn't made another flick, well, one in post-production...The movie isn't really made for everybody. It's a slow story but every minute works. You can guess what's going on but again, slowly the story evolves. And the camera work is also slowly, wide-angle slowly zooming in. Some parts did remind me of David Lynch. The weirdness of the story. Every actor is so believable. The fragility of Sadie (Emily Bergl). I really enjoyed it from the first second until the end credits. You are really into it from the beginning. I wasn't 'chasing sleep' while watching it.

Maciste_Brother CHASING SLEEP is not bad. But it ain't good as well.The best thing about this David Lynch wannabe is Jeff Daniels himself. He really carries the movie to whatever effect the director wanted to create. Daniels is everything here: menacing, befuddled, oblivious, believable. It's probably his greatest performance. But to what end? It's sad that his acting career hasn't been as solid as in the 1990s. He's actually a very good actor, who can act in comedies as well as dramas.But as for the story itself, well, I believe it's up to the interpretation of whoever watches it and they can decide what it really is. The whole thing felt like David Lynch lite, if that's possible. I don't think the "story" was thought-out fully by the director and so the film feels half complete. It's not a disaster but it's definitely not a complete success. If it wasn't for Daniels' convincing acting, CHASING SLEEP wouldn't have been watchable.

excalibur212 Just saw this and wanted to add my interpretation of the sex scene.At first, he's really into it. You'll notice, though, that when things really start heating up (i.e. she goes down on him), he starts hearing voices and having flashbacks. This is because the pleasure he's experiencing is also causing the powerful memories he's been suppressing with the drugs to come flooding back (pleasure/pain = same area of the brain, the hypothalamus, part of the limbic system which also controls rage and memory). That is why he has to stop the sex; it conjures the return of painful memories of his act of rage that his mind has repressed.An interesting definition found online: "pleasure-pain principle - (psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the id; the principle that an infant seeks gratification and fails to distinguish fantasy from reality" Basically here is a character who has been numbing his mind with drugs to block out the memory of his act of rage, and has become delusional and lost his sense of time (side effects of sleep deprivation). He is no longer able to separate fantasy from reality. Many of the characters are figments of his imagination/projections of his guilt, which is why they all act similarly and are all also popping pills (they are extensions of himself).

djelvis2 first, don't watch the trailer. it shows the end of the movie.second, I think the comparisons to Lynch are dangerous, especially when Lynch has already made a movie about a guy who feels disconnected with his wife and the love they used to have, about a guy who finds himself down a bloody path, about a guy who finds himself in a really bad dream, indistinguishable from his reality...Okay, I'll just say it straight out: Chasing Sleep is a farm-league Lost Highway. If you know someone who likes creepy psychological movies, but couldn't dig Lost Highway, they'll probably like Chasing Sleep. Spells out the main character's situation a bit more plainly. That's because the setting's plainer (the entire movie's in the man's house, a lifeless six-figure suburban hovel), the characters are plainer (especially against Lynch characters), and the plot is a lot simpler -- almost predictable. There's a couple of familiar faces for TV junkies, but this movie rests squarely on Jeff Daniels' shoulders. He does alright as an Everyman on the breaking point; at least, I believed that he was spiritually exhausted throughout the picture. Given the story's setup and flavor, I think the hollowness of the other performances are intentional, avoiding the intimacy that might break this spell of solitude on the main character. Or the actors might have just had too little to work with.Conclusions? the movie's slightly clever, some intriguing shots, still haven't figured out about the baby... But I can't watch this without thinking about Lost Highway, Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos), or Dr Caligari, and what's already been done. Still, good enough for cable...