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The Perfect Sleep

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The Perfect Sleep (2009)

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Reviews Counted:11

Fresh:4

Rotten:7

Average Rating:4.4/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, some language and brief drug use.for violence, some language and brief drug use.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:Mar 13, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: Think of the hard-boiled world of film noir: the world of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, a world of femme fatales, a world of shadows. Now imagine this world populated with characters from tragic... Think of the hard-boiled world of film noir: the world of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, a world of femme fatales, a world of shadows. Now imagine this world populated with characters from tragic Russian novels like those by Dostoevsky: tormented figures suffering through harsh circumstance. This unique world provides the foundation for the dark and vivid dreamscape of The Perfect Sleep.

In a timeless city, a man with no name returns to the violent, brutal domain of assassins he left ten years before – back when they dubbed him The Mad Monk for his disregard for his own life and his intense devotion to one woman, Porphyria; a beautiful, luminescent woman; the girl he grew up with; the love of his life; the one thing he has ever wanted; the one thing he can never have.

There is no discernible reason for him to come back to this ruthless city, save one. She still lives here, she is in danger, and he – a man gifted in the art of killing – may be the only one who can save her. Waiting for him are deadly men who would like nothing more than to see him die a painful death. Standing at their forefront is the formidable Nikolai, the man who raised him and just might be his father.

To protect Porphyria, this unnamed man will return to a life of torment and torture. He will face off against the father figure he turned his back on so many years ago. He will revisit this existence full of people imprisoned by their desire, their history, and their very blood; a world where the only thing keeping you from happiness is yourself, the world of The Perfect Sleep.
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Starring: Roselyn Sanchez, Anton Pardoe, Patrick Bauchau, Peter J. Lucas

Starring: Roselyn Sanchez, Anton Pardoe, Patrick Bauchau, Peter J. Lucas, Tony Amendola, Sam Thakur, Dominique Vandenberg, Cameron Daddo

Director: Jeremy Alter

Director: Jeremy Alter
Screenwriter: Anton Pardoe
Producer: Jeremy Alter, Keith Kjarval, Anton Pardoe
Composer: David Vanian
Studio: Cinema Epoch

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Release:

Jun 16, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • To a timeless city filled with ruthlessness and torment, a man with no name has returned. Known to us only as “The Narrator” (Anton Pardoe), he was once dubbed The Mad Monk for his disregard for his own life and intense devotion to one woman: the luminescent Porphyria (Roselyn Sanchez, Rush Hour 2, The Game Plan, Without a Trace). The girl from his childhood, the love of his life, the one thing he has always wanted and can never have.
  • As a man gifted in the art of killing, he may be the only one who can save her from the danger surrounding her. But lying in wait are lethal men who would like nothing more than to see him die a painful death. They are led by Nikolai (Patrick Bauchau, HBO’s Carnivàle, Panic Room, The Cell, Ray), the man who raised him and who may very well be his father.
  • To protect Porphyria, the unnamed man will return to a life of torment and torture, facing off against a lost father figure and revisiting an existence full of people imprisoned by their desire, their history and their very blood. A world where the only thing keeping you from happiness is yourself - the world of The Perfect Sleep.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for The Perfect Sleep

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    1 - 11 (sorted by date)
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    There are shadows on top of shadows. It's the film noir universe, all right. What does the title refer to? Perhaps to what you will enjoy during the film.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    05/07/09
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Well-directed with exquisite visuals, but suffers from an often dull, convoluted and confusing plot as well as too much style over substance.

    Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
    03/29/09
    Avi Offer
    Avi Offer
    NYC Movie Guru

    Nothing makes much sense in this ridiculously high minded narrative, but the emptiness is brimming with intensity and attitude, along with some inspired night vision footage and dialogue delivered as over the top self-serious soundbites.

    Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
    03/27/09
    Prairie Miller
    Prairie Miller
    NewsBlaze

    Easy on the eyes but brutal on the ears, The Perfect Sleep fuses Shakespearean tragedy and noir iconography into a strange, lovely, leaden ball of confusion.

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    03/27/09
    Jeannette Catsoulis
    Jeannette Catsoulis
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The disjointed story is no more comprehensible than The Big Sleep. Though Alter is no Howard Hawks and Pardoe and Sanchez are no Bogie and Bacall, this movie looks great. You won't nap through The Perfect Sleep.

    Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
    03/27/09
    Lou Lumenick
    Lou Lumenick
    New York Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Alter’s film is a rare pleasure.

    Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
    03/25/09
    Mark Holcomb
    Mark Holcomb
    Time Out New York

    Style significantly trumps substance in The Perfect Sleep, a good-looking but convoluted homage to film noir, Russian literature and Shakespearean tragedy, among a few too many other things.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
    03/13/09
    Gary Goldstein
    Gary Goldstein
    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Unfortunately, Alter's often inventive work is kneecapped by a deliriously nonsensical script, which misses the mark as both over-the-top parody and straight-faced homage, and could have been intended as either.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    03/13/09
    Andrew Baker
    Andrew Baker
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    An undeniably odd mixture of 80% noir, 15% action, and 5% random homage. I dug it.

    Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
    03/13/09
    Scott Weinberg
    Scott Weinberg
    Cinematical

    An ungainly fusion of dutiful homage and snarky send-up.

    Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
    03/12/09
    Lance Goldenberg
    Lance Goldenberg
    L.A. Weekly

    The well-chosen supporting cast also deliver with especially sharp turns from Sanchez, Bauchau and Amendola who act this script as if it were Shakespeare.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    03/11/09
    Pete Hammond
    Pete Hammond
    Boxoffice Magazine
     
     
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