Paul Schrader gives us a downbeat story about a nice guy, Willem Dafoe, who is in the employee of the good-hearted but fiercely businesslike Susan Sarandon. He runs drugs for her to high-end clientèle. He's not your typical seedy dealer. Sarandon has a car and driver available to take him to the night clubs and penthouses where the users pay cash for hard drugs. Dafoe even delivers Valium to users pacing around in a hospital waiting room. Sarandon likes him. He likes his job, now that he himself is no longer a user or juice head. It all runs smoothly.This garden of earthly delights is interrupted by the appearance of his ex wife, Dana Delaney, whom Dafoe still loves deeply. She wants absolutely nothing to do with him because the two of them did little except get high during their marriage. He pursues her nonetheless.Fate intervenes. Delaney's mother dies. Dafoe always liked her but Delaney goes ballistic when he tries to attend the funeral. She's so distraught that she throws herself out the window of one of Dafoe's rich clients, Victor Garber, who, for the purposes of the role, affects a flawless Swiss/German accent. He's convincing.I don't think it's a good idea to get into the narrative more deeply. Dafoe gets himself into trouble and there is a shoot out at the end. We'll leave it at that.All of the principals give unimpeachable performances. No problems there. And Dana Delaney looks eminently squeezable. Schrader's direction is effective in evoking New York's night-time streets during a garbage strike. But all those piles of deep green garbage bags lining the streets are kind of symptomatic. Everything is dirty at its core. In case we missed that, Schrader shoots a scene in which Dafoe tries desperately to convince his ex wife to get together again -- only the camera is so situated that a wide cement pillar blocks the space between them. It's like being hit over the head with a crowbar.Two other weaknesses, at least in my judgment. Dafoe has an uncanny feeling that he is in mortal danger. He has some reason to feel this way, but not enough to prompt him into buying a pistol and packing it in his belt. I didn't feel the jeopardy gathering around him the way he claims. Let me put it another way. That climactic shoot out looked unjustified.Worse was Michael Been's lugubrious imitation of Leonard Cohen. I'm not criticizing him as a musician, but only for this score. Good God. The lyrics are enough to make you slit your wrists. They're a mishmash of doom-laden phrases like "wrapped chains around me" and "twist the blade" and "hunger and fear" and "who stole my orgone accumulator?" Well -- not that last one, but you get the picture.Yet, if you can disregard the musical score, what you wind up with is a decent story of a fundamentally decent guy who suffers for his sins and emerges a better man for it.Finally,

I don't get it. On paper, I should like this, BUT: 1) "you don't know crack from cracker jack" 2) Drug dealers at the aforementioned restaurant 3) Susan Saradon as June Cleaver as Ma Barker trying to become "glamourous?" Fiddle dee dee. 4) "sensitive" "DD," DaFoe? "DD?" - gimme a break.4.5) "Has my luck run out?" asked the master thespian.5) Cops = bad cartoon characters "DDs" = empathetic real people 6) "We'll always have Paris?" albeit ironically. What about Uncle Vanya with a limp? At least that was actually funny.7) Corny dated music. So corny, it's actually kind of nostalgic. Maybe thats intentional. It does certainly put you right back in the era.8) Almond oil? That's just goofy enough to happen in real life. Does it work here? You tell me. Or is it extra-special inside-cutesy-wutesy.I knew a few dealers in NYC in the day, even "sensitive" ones. I didn't see them here. But what the hell, its only a movie. To the rest of the world, I guess it will pass. But even with all the latitude, its just "too." I will say that some of the addicts and nasty scenarios ring true. Also, some of the outdoor NYC shots are nice because they show it as it is, not as it is in the movies.Well worth seeing, but don't get too excited reading about it beforehand, or if you are watching it now.I'll give it a 7 anyway. Do not let me discourage you, maybe I'm just missing something here. It wouldn't be the first time.

Paul Schrader is a director whose films should be seen more often. He is a man that never compromises and tackles adult themes with great panache, as he has amply demonstrated throughout his distinguished career. He was long associated with Martin Scorsese, but when he decided to go on his own, he showed his talent was there all the time.Mr. Schrader's films have a sense of style that are not easily matched by many of today's filmmakers. He knows what seems to work, and what not. His movies show a sophistication, as we mere mortals, are invited to participate, even though we haven't received the invitation in the mail.Most comments in this forum are excellent, so we won't even attempt to add anything that hasn't been said before. "Light Sleeper" is supposed to be one of Mr. Schrader's favorite films, and it's clear to see why. He has infused the film with characters that are easy to see why they are portrayed on the screen. Willem Dafoe is obviously an actor held in high esteem by Mr. Schrader. As John LaTour, Mr. Dafoe is at his most introspective self. His character shows a complexity that is hard to match.The rest of the cast is excellent. Susan Sarandon is perfect as Ann. Dana Delaney is Marianne. Mary Beth Hurt, Victor Garber, Sam Rockwell, David Spade, are seen in supporting roles.The great atmospheric music of Michael Been is heard in the background and it helps add another layer in the texture of the finished product. Edward Lachman does an amazing job with the way he photographed the film that includes a lot of night time scenes in Manhattan.Take a look at the film, as Mr. Schrader will impress, even a casual viewer.

I guess I am the one to blame but I never understood this picture, not in the cinema not on telly and it has nothing to do that Schrader is a "difficult" director as I always adored "Mishima" which must be one of the most difficult mades ever made, but I blame it a bit on the acting as Dafoe and Sarandon do their job in a professional way but it's done without any depth. We follow the journeys of John LeTour (Dafoe) who is a drugsdealer who is now clean and during his "job" he meets old persons back who were addicted, also Marianne (Dana Delany) who used to be LeTour's lover. The day Marianne got killed Dafoe comes into a real personal crisis as he can't decide whether he has to love or despise his "job". Won't go any further as otherwise I tell you too much that might spoil the fun but even if this Schrader's fave movie I have other opinions swirling inside my head, just don't get it....