The Perfect Sleep
The Perfect Sleep
R | 13 March 2009 (USA)
The Perfect Sleep Trailers

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.

Reviews
Geordieboy

I would say the narration was inane but, that would mean it had to have sense or substance, which it didn't.The storyline was little more than that contrived by a ten year old boy with constipation while sitting on the pot.If we still had coal fires we could use the lacklustre script and wooden acting to light the fire.If vitality is the characteristic which distinguishes living things from nonliving things, we may now bury this and not bother with a wake.I would like to say that this digital diatribe had no redeeming features at all but, it does have one, a visual one, and that is the beauty of Roselyn Sanchez.

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wolter-hunter

Film Noire is a genre that requires a certain level of tact, cleverness, intellect, and imagery. This movie has none of that, though they really tried hard with the imagery.It's the kind of movie that your cousin Marky the dump truck driver, who's always talking about how he's going to make it big in the movies someday, would make.The dialogue is wooden and lifeless. The visuals, while obviously expensive to make, are the work of a director who has tried to be clever and failed miserably due to a severe lack in cerebral ability. The acting ranged from sub-par to just plain bad. The story might have been salvaged by a real writer and director, but I suspect that such people would not have touched it with a barge pole.About 1/4 of the way through, I noticed striking similarities with the scene in Sim0ne where Viktor, desperate to be rid of his actress, makes the world's worst movie. I figured I'd check IMDb to see if a similar effect has occurred in this movie, and to my surprise it has. I'd almost be tempted to give a 2 out of 10 just because it's exposed the pretentious groupies, but I won't. It's that bad.

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Vlad Mitrache

This is the first time I feel the need to comment on IMDb, to write some sort of a review and, as it so often happens, it's not because of a really excellent film, but a truly appalling one.Take the narrating style the youngest might relate to the Max Payne video game series, a cast of virtually unkonwns (which is not a bad thing in itself), poor dialogs, some dark scenes but not many enough, and make a film out of it. Don't worry about the bad acting, the length (way too long), the lack of immersion (the lead character has to be one of the lest interesting I've seen in a long time - couldn't care less if he died) or the often ridiculous solutions they find to certain problems the lead character finds himself in.I wouldn't have written anything if it hadn't been for another review here, giving it 10 stars. I gave it four, but maybe three is closer to what I feel about it. Not only do I not wish to see it again, but the mere thought of it takes me dangerously close to wanting to kill myself. Oh, and a so called noir film is nothing without a good soundtrack - not the case here. The ending song sounds like it was more suitable to a western movie.It's not romance, it's not action, it's not noir, it's not good. That would be my review if it weren't for the minimum of 10 lines.

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www.ramascreen.com

THE PERFECT SLEEP takes me by surprise, just when I thought this was just going to be another noir movie that only focuses on art and nothing else, it actually delivers some of the most entertaining gunfight sequences I've seen in a long time. It's a… dark, classy thriller/drama, worthy of going up against some of the best movies this year can throw at you. The story is elegant and cunning at the same time, the kind of revenge story you'd like to wrap your head around.What really grabs me by the throat is the martial aspect of this movie. Absolutely impressive, I don't remember ever watching a noir movie in the past that has such kick-ass fight scenes. That and the doctor whose style of killing includes telling his victims what they're about to go through as they slowly fall to their excruciating death. That part isn't so original but it's played with such finesse and calmness by actor Tony Amendola, it's practically hypnotic. On top of that I really enjoy how writer/actor Anton Pardoe crafted such a simple yet intriguing story that's not too confusing to crack wide open but you don't mind because it will make you even more curious to see how the story would resolve itself. There's a little bit of everything for everyone: romance, the fascination that comes with the concept of lonesome assassin, it even has sniper shooting for those of you who are into first-person shooting video game.My only few objections probably would have to do with the acting. Roselyn Sanchez is a gorgeous woman but she's still got a ways to go before she could be deemed as a talented actress. There are times when you're looking at her face as she's saying her lines and it still feels as though she's reading the script on the reflection of the opposing actors' eyes. It's obvious that actor Anton Pardoe gives his all because this is his passion project, if you will, but he does not have the looks and charm of a lead male star. I think Patrick Bauchau was fantastic in the HBO series Carnivale but in THE PERFECT SLEEP, his performance is rather dry, half-hearted and doesn't leave a lasting impression. The cinematography is decent, the way it plays with the contrast between light and dark and the spaces in between is not too shabby. it serves some moments that would get you to submit but at times, I feel it could go the distance a bit. Show more close up shots in more creative angles instead of just depending on wide span for most parts. We could do without some of the dialogue, I don't like it much when a movie is trying too hard to be all aristotle or king Solomon and throws darts of wisdom words so obviously at the audience. Having said that, THE PERFECT SLEEP is still worth watching for those of us who long for something familiar and yet so different.--Rama's SCREEN--

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