Sleep with Me
Sleep with Me
R | 23 September 1994 (USA)
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Six different writers wrote a scene each of this romantic comedy featuring the marriage and turbulent relationship of Joseph and Sarah, with Joseph's best friend Frank trying hard to cope with letting the love of his life marry his best friend.

Reviews
ejamessnyder

I enjoyed this film quite a bit and am surprised that it's not better known. It feels as if it could have been considered the quintessential nineties film that summed up the feelings of a generation, but somehow it was overlooked. It plays like a cross between Short Cuts and Clerks, with as much feeling and raw reality as a John Cassavetes film.The film is about a man who is in love with the wife of his best friend. The story unfolds through real-to-life scenes and dialog which gradually reveal more and more about the characters and their motivations. The plot meanders but never strays; we never feel lost. The film feels like real life and it is full of fun and memorable scenes and conversations which feel totally real to the point that you almost feel as if you are there in the room observing, rather than merely watching a film.The scenes are cut together with intertitles—similar to many old silent films—and it's done a charming way that I didn't feel was at all tacky or distracting. Perhaps their use was an afterthought by the filmmakers as a way to jump from one scene to the next, but it never feels as if we're being cheated out of anything. That's actually something that I wish was done more frequently, but it seems like films these days like to use other methods to transition between scenes instead. It's probably just as well, because the intertitles here made Sleep with Me feel more unique and original and helped me really get into each scene and enjoy the film.One of my favorite parts of the film is a brief appearance by Quentin Tarantino in what I consider to be his finest acting role. His performance here has often been called a cameo, but it lasts for several minutes and includes at least a few dozen lines of hilarious yet totally believable dialog, although the character is not essential to the plot of the film. While I love Tarantino as a director, I'm not normally a big fan of his acting work, but in this role he nailed it. Although brief, it's a part he was born to play.However, two of the things that I loved the most about this film were also the main things that I felt detracted from it overall and kept me from giving it a higher score. Those two things were the acting and the dialog. Although both of these aspects were typically great throughout the film and made it enjoyable, there were several instances in which they failed. Several pieces of dialog—including the very last lines of the film—felt wildly out of place and several bits of acting felt like they should have been scrapped or redone.I got the feeling that this movie was put together quickly and that very few takes were done for certain scenes, so perhaps that is why the acting and dialog were not always spot-on. Perhaps this was for budgetary reasons or perhaps the director felt the scenes we more spontaneous that way. Or perhaps the reason for these shortcomings was that the film had six different writers who, from my understanding, each worked independently to a degree to write their own individual scenes. In any case, these flaws don't ruin the film. It's not a perfect film, but none are, and this one is definitely worth watching.

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George Parker

"Sleep With Me" is an all dialogue novelty which tells of two men (Stoltz, Scheffer) who love the same woman (Tilly). One marries her while the other hides his true feelings only to make them known at a particularly inappropriate time. At issue is; who's gonna get the babe in the end. "SWM" is dialogue chapter and verse and very little more. Lots and lots of snappy patter while playing poker, gabbing at a soiree, or riding in a car....just talk, talk, and more talk. Oh, yes, then some more talk...yadayada-freakin-yada. The conclusion is sufficiently unsatisfying to make one wonder if the destination was worth the journey. Okay stuff for those who don't mind romantic comedies without romance and can enjoy a novelty film which uses six screenwriters in a seemly but unseamless way, each doing his own thing. (C+)

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hermit58

Sleep With Me, A well written film, with sharp acidic dialogue that studies the relationships between friends and lovers, and the lines that we cross. Eric Stoltz and Craig Sheffer are the main players here, and are well supported, by a cast of friends and family, that have real conversations about real issues like Love, Friendship,Commitment and Betrayal. The script is better than most big budget films and the funniest lines are delivered with excellent comic timing. Meg Tilly is very well cast, and gives a strong performance. Todd Field and Thomas Gibson turn in good work in supporting roles, and an excellent cameo by Quentin Tarantino is one of the many pleasant surprises in this film. Sleep With Me, is well worth watching, an underrated film by my account, I give it three stars out of a possible four.***.

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a43171

sleep with me is one of the best films i have seen in a long time! the film has a superb story and stoltz is absolutely stunning all the way through! the film was stolen though by the scene with quentin tarantino on using his usual mumbly argumentative views on something! the whole film is shot excelently with the shots being very simple looking but at the same time very smooth throughout!i hope more film makers take note of this film and emulate its style!!

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