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. Featuring Quentin Tarantino in a cameo as Sid, a movie-bore party goer Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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OperaLA from Los Angeles, CA
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I must admit that I do not know whether the film's success is due to, or in spite of, the multiple writers. When one is aware that several writers, including the director, wrote different scenes, it is a challenge to find just what the cohesive factor is that makes the film so engaging. Admittedly, some scenes are ineffective (the initial poker scene), while some are wildly successful (the poker scene invaded by the characters played by Joey Lauren Adams and Parker Posey). It is one of those films that is MORE than the sum of its parts.

After several viewings on DVD (I wish I had seen it in the theater), I realized that many details, at first insignificant, contribute to its impact. The film begins broadly, simply and beautifully -- Stolz, Tilly, and Scheffer are on the highway coming home from a road trip. The open western landscape is practically a metaphor for their friendship. However, the film slowly narrows in, and as the love triangle develops,the view gets less broad. A beautifully conceived and shot example of this is the poolside party scene that begins as a B&W camcorder viewfinder "point of view", then cuts to full color at a particular point of introspection. It sent chills up my spine.

The visual details in the location designs and cinematography are rich and revealing, and seem more considered and professional than one finds in most low budget independent films. However, this strong consistency in production values neither spotlights nor hides the writing dissimilarities.

I strongly recommend this film.

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hermit58 (hermit58@prodigy.net) from phila. pa.
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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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foxforce5 from New York
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I viewed this film again now that it has just appeared on DVD. I had forgotten just what an interesting little film this is. SLEEP WITH ME is what independent film-making is (or should be) all about. Based on the universal idea of the love triangle, it reveals the tangle of relationships that can exist among a community of friends. It also reveals the struggles and contradictions of twenty-somethings seeking careers, love, respect, and friendships.

Stoltz, Tilly, and Sheffer are excellent, as well as the strong cast of supporting actors. Adrienne Shelly is hilarious (and right on) in a small role as a party guest.

Two scenes in particular are brilliant: Parker Posey and Joey Lauren Adams invade the traditional all-guy poker game, and the final scene, which combines comedy, slapstick, and serious conflict and self-reflection.

If there is one script weakness, it is that the catalyst for the affair between Sheffer and Tilly is never successfully explained.

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K8-2
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This is one of those charming little character study pieces heavily influenced by The Big Chill - not so much in plot or mood, but in casting. The viewer is not so much engaged by the plot or the camera angles but rather by the knowledge that all the actors involved are serious about independent film, have worked together before, and are enjoying the part, the process and the pay-off of being able to work on a small film with similarly-minded indie actors.

If you're looking for a solidly brilliant film on relationships, this is probably not what you need (try Manhattan or Annie Hall). But if you're in mood for the following qualifications in a rainy day rental, check it out: 1. A typically scene-stealing turn from Parker Posey. 2. The presence of attractive male leads Eric Stoltz and Craig Scheffer. 3. A storyline involving a sensitive male in love with his best friend's girlfriend. 4. An extremely amusing cameo and monologue from Quentin Tarantino.

It's fun, it's light and there are moments of truly clever writing. You may take a few valuable one-liners away from the experience.

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azimuth361 from Vilseck, Germany
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This is a well-made movie and the cast is terrific. Eric Stoltz is an under-appreciated talent and Meg Tilly shines. I also think that Parker Posey can do no wrong and is great in this film. There are great performances all around by the entire cast.

It's just a bit too real. Personally, I'm all about films that allow me to escape the grit and drama of daily life. I prefer movies about space marines battling acid-bleeding aliens. I even enjoy movies about an ordinary life or ordinary person confronted with an outrageous set of circumstances along the lines of Shallow Hal, The Family Man or Click. If I wanted to watch this kind of drama, I'd just set up a lawn chair in the front yard and watch the goings-on in my own neighborhood. If you're looking for escapism, then this movie isn't it. If you want a slice of life as portrayed by an extraordinary cast, then this is the film for you. Again, the cast is terrific. Their performances are so believable that I could be convinced that there was no script, no rehearsal and they weren't even aware that there were cameras present. It seemed more real than most 'reality shows'. It's just not for me. I go to the movies to see what I CAN'T see day to day.

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bob the moo from United Kingdom
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Spanning the time from the marriage of Joe to Sarah through the various stages of their marriage breakdown, this follows Joe's best friend Frank as he tries to hold his life together despite his love for Sarah.

Written by about six different writers, each doing a different section. It all plays like the opposite of Friends. The group of friends are less polished and in some respects seem more realistic, however in other scenes their activities seem very far fetched and outlandish to be real. However at the end of the day the central strand of the story around Joe, Sarah and Frank is good and interesting. The only problem with this strand is that more time is spent watching Joe and Sarah experience problems rather than falling in love - this makes their relationship hard to support or believe in. Whereas in contrast Frank's longing for Sarah is shown to be developing and it makes it easier to support this.

The film's main weakness is that the supporting characters are little more than fonts for witty banter and never convince as real people. Stoltz is actually quite good, however Sheffer is allowed more audience sympathy and comes off better. Tilly is excellent (and is very beautiful) she brings the torn wife to life. Of the rest of the cast there are plenty of indie faces, but the real stealer is Tarantino in a short cameo as a party guest talking animatedly about Top Gun's homoerotic sub text.

Overall it is very rough around the edges and at times feels a little bitty, however it is refreshingly free of mushy sentiment and is quite funny.

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Danny-Rodriguez from Norway
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That category being a movie about relationships, the undertone of being unfaithful and the small things about relationships which aren't covered by normal big romance movies. Realism, indie film-making, long shots and acting which looks like it's improvised makes a movie for me. I dunno, maybe this category of movies is really my all time favorite, the other being gangster movies and such because these movies speak to me... Social commentary about my life and my thoughts and my own relationships are all in this movie like they are in Chasing Amy, my second all time favorite movie of all time. Resrevoir Dogs, being THE gangster movie, is the first.

In my opinion this really is modern movie making at it's best. Watching films like this I feel like I'm seeing Man Bites Dog again for the first time. Like in one sequence, similar to another sequence in the movie Boogie Nights, there's a scene which lasts for many minutes and which is shot in only a few shots through the eye of an old black and white camcorder made the hairs on my arm stand up in awe. This is a key scene in the movie and I wont spoil it for you but if you've ever had a relationship and been in these sort of awkward social situations before then you will feel the pain of these characters and be totally in the movie the whole time you see it from beginning to end. Or like another scene where they are all at a very formal and "boring" party and Frank shows up and it all blows up in everyone's face. This, I think, was my favorite scene in the movie because of what happens in it, how it happens and what happens because of it.

There is of course also the Quentin Tarantino cameo which didn't escape my eye either. The movie is worth seeing just for that but the whole film still meant so much more to me than that.

I'll wrap this up now with a few things I wanna say about the whole set up of these people's lives. Some are in the movie writing business and some are in the landscaping business but what I found deeply interesting was that we never actually see them at work. It's all just worked into the dialogue of the film which I really liked because that is not the conventional way. Usually you'll have a few scenes of them at work to establish this but in stead this movie focuses completely and utterly on the characters... And what a wonderful set of characters they were.

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gfisi111 from United States
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This is one of the best "love story" I have ever seen. The directing is really brave, the conflict fully develops and not aborted. All emotions are pushed to the edge. It perfectly shows that even the most cynical people can be shaken by true emotions.

The movie is also painful because it shows how weak and pathetic we are. We love hiding our failures, choosing our comfort instead of facing the root of our problems. We like the numbness, the created explanations for our bad relationships, we comfort ourself with the fact that all of our friends are in the same shoes.

Another plus is of the directing is the really refreshing, original conversations. Intelligent writing with very good sense of humor and perfect acting -this is a rarely seen combination.

I would recommend this movie to everyone who is fed up with fake, romantic choices of many directors, who are hungry for artistic reality and ready to take a heavy message.

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smatysia (feldene@comcast.net) from Houston
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I wonder sometimes about IMDb's "Weighted average" on movie ratings. This film has a "weighted" score of 5.7, but a real average of 7.0. What's up with that? Anyway, I liked this film. I had never heard of it, but taped it from cable some time ago. It is a quiet film, basically a character study. Eric Stoltz and Craig Sheffer did fine jobs as the male leads. I was impressed by the beauty of Joey Lauren Adams in a small role. (I was unfamiliar with her.) Most impressive, though, was the performance of Meg Tilly. She just exuded a semi-shy charm all through the movie. She seems to have dropped out of sight in recent years, and that's too bad. This film is worth a rental. I would buy it if it were on DVD. Grade: B+

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sarah-64 from Missouri
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One of my favorite Stoltz characters is the gritty Joseph in Sleep with Me. Although he is raw and sometimes hard to love because of his `ogling', Stoltz gives him a believable personality creating a lot of mixed feelings between Sarah, Frank and himself. Great one-liners and generation dialogue in this film creates a fast, interesting, funny and real experience. One realizes Joseph's tender side as he watches his wife become giddy at Franks confessions...`Honey, I'm getting ready to cloud up and rain all over you'... An interesting bit of info... the couch used in Frank's apartment looks exactly like the loveseat Bridget Fonda's character in Bodies, Rest & Motion gave Sid, the painter – Eric Stoltz.

marriage|love|vomiting|female frontal nudity|wedding|unfaithfulness|toy ring|teacher|sword|sword fight|song|pot smoking|singing|singer|shame|sexism|self indulgence|self absorption|seduction|screenwriter|ring|reference to raquel welch|reference to demi moore|reference to betty rubble|poker the card game|pizza|penis|mother daughter relationship|marriage proposal|marriage counselor|marriage counseling|love triangle|lie|liar|las vegas nevada|landscaping|jealousy|husband wife relationship|homosexuality|homoeroticism|home movie|gay|friendship|forgiveness|food|filling station|fight|father daughter relationship|extramarital affair|ejaculation|drunkenness|drink|drinking|cynicism|convertible|confession|cigarette smoking|childbirth|celebration|bitterness|birth control|beach|bathroom|anger|adultery|homosexual subtext|infidelity|sex|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Finland:K-12 / Iceland:L / Spain:13 / Sweden:11 / UK:18 / USA:R (certificate no. 33000)