61 reviews
Long night's journey
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.
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.
Engaging, frightening and somewhat saddening account of a NYC man in crisis amidst all the negative elements of death, gloom and isolation.
Paul Schrader's love/hate relationship with close to down-and-out male individuals living in New York City continues in 1992's Light Sleeper. Schrader casts a dim eye on most of the proceedings in the place, but his revisiting of New York City in Light Sleeper, and whatever knowledge past you have of 1976's Taxi Driver, shows a clear fondness for the place; a fondness to keep going back and exploring new characters, operating under new situations and working with new problems floating around inside of their heads. In Light Sleeper's case, it is Willem Dafoe's John LeTour, a middle aged man whom deals drugs; meets some pretty desperate individuals in the process; cannot connect that well with the women he wants most; is stalked by police men and generally tries to balance his on-going loneliness with his inability to really find his place in life.
Light Sleeper is a wonderfully down to Earth and thoroughly intense film. With hindsight, one might think of it as a Trainspotting without all the hyper-kinetic energy. The film begins, quite literally, with a focusing on a road as we flow through New York; this is before developing into a ground level documentation of life flitting between streets, apartments that inhabit drug users and dealers, grotty nightclubs that house further users plus hotel suites which spell danger. The easy way to summarise the male lead we're given in Light Sleeper would be a comparison to Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, as penned by Schrader. LeTour is a loner; he keeps a diary, although possesses better handwriting skills; attempts to talk and follow women he simply cannot have; and generally wanders. There is even room for the characters to pay reference to the rain at certain times, and its importance. Like Taxi Driver; the film is a gathering, only not of an individual's visions of what's around him, but of the interactions and of the people that exist around him.
This idea is best explored in a scene set in a hospital. LeTour is visiting the mother of a certain Marianne Jost (Delany), as another relative, whilst in the intensive care room, sits asleep in a chair. LeTour walks in and sits down. The camera freezes on him sitting there, almost certain death in the air by way of the dying mother and the fact there are those he hands drugs out to whom will perish at some point in the near future. It's only after a while that he glances over at the relative, and it's only then that the camera will slowly track left to encompass, indeed recognise, she's even sitting there. It's an interesting touch by Schrader, and reminiscent of Taxi Driver by being a sort of polar opposite: we see, indeed recognise, what LeTour sees but only until HE does so first. We do not get it in that raw, unflinching and 1st person style the 1976 masterpiece delivers, but we do get it in some manner of speaking.
Light Sleeper knows what it is and knows exactly how it wants to unfold. The film isn't a conventional thriller, of sorts, about a drug dealer and a world of crime and the interactions that go on, even if it does end in a conventional manner by way of a bloody shootout. Rather, the film is a stark character study of a man on the way out; of a man wasting his life away through drugs, not as a junkie – something LeTour stresses to certain people he meets, but as a dealer and that any relation you might have to the stuff will most probably end you up in very bad shape. As a raw character study, we pick the lead up in his late thirties and cover him for about a fortnight. The damage has been done; we learn of his past troubles and whatever back-story we require by way of speech to other people, and we learn it all at regular, very well spaced intervals.
The film's attention to LeTour's element of unrequited love in his life is additionally well handled, somewhat seamlessly incorporated into the text by way of a series of nervous and unfortunate encounters. We first meet the aforementioned Marianne when LeTour's chauffeur driven saloon stops to pick her up out of the wet. By way of Dafoe's wonderful acting, LeTour is juddery and the professionalism driven image that we have of him up to this point, by way of short sharp encounters and knowing exactly what to say to different sorts of lowlifes, is shattered somewhat when he lies to her about continuing dealing drugs and screws up the whole interaction. The lyrics in the music and the manner in which the character regresses over a photo-album in the following scene could have been explored and executed in a far worse-a manner. The film's remaining scenes of obsession and rejection surrounding these two are well incorporated into the text.
I think Light Sleeper's crowning glory is its real attention to the finer things. There's a scene in which LeTour's consistently outrageously dressed female drug contact Ann, (Susan Sarandon, fresh off a wonderful role in Thelma and Louise) who is the the person that supplies all of the drugs to LeTour along with Robert (Clennon), from their pseudo-upper class decorated apartment, asks LeTour for a lunch meeting the following day. I got an odd sensation after the interaction had ended that a lesser film would cut straight to the lunch: person 'A' proposes something to person 'B'; person 'B' accepts and then we cut to the rendez-vous. Light Sleeper rejects the causality, opting for notions, interactions and ideas to rest on the back-burner whilst the lead carries on for a while interacting further with other people before the day is out. Make no mistake, there'll be no light napping during this picture.
Light Sleeper is a wonderfully down to Earth and thoroughly intense film. With hindsight, one might think of it as a Trainspotting without all the hyper-kinetic energy. The film begins, quite literally, with a focusing on a road as we flow through New York; this is before developing into a ground level documentation of life flitting between streets, apartments that inhabit drug users and dealers, grotty nightclubs that house further users plus hotel suites which spell danger. The easy way to summarise the male lead we're given in Light Sleeper would be a comparison to Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, as penned by Schrader. LeTour is a loner; he keeps a diary, although possesses better handwriting skills; attempts to talk and follow women he simply cannot have; and generally wanders. There is even room for the characters to pay reference to the rain at certain times, and its importance. Like Taxi Driver; the film is a gathering, only not of an individual's visions of what's around him, but of the interactions and of the people that exist around him.
This idea is best explored in a scene set in a hospital. LeTour is visiting the mother of a certain Marianne Jost (Delany), as another relative, whilst in the intensive care room, sits asleep in a chair. LeTour walks in and sits down. The camera freezes on him sitting there, almost certain death in the air by way of the dying mother and the fact there are those he hands drugs out to whom will perish at some point in the near future. It's only after a while that he glances over at the relative, and it's only then that the camera will slowly track left to encompass, indeed recognise, she's even sitting there. It's an interesting touch by Schrader, and reminiscent of Taxi Driver by being a sort of polar opposite: we see, indeed recognise, what LeTour sees but only until HE does so first. We do not get it in that raw, unflinching and 1st person style the 1976 masterpiece delivers, but we do get it in some manner of speaking.
Light Sleeper knows what it is and knows exactly how it wants to unfold. The film isn't a conventional thriller, of sorts, about a drug dealer and a world of crime and the interactions that go on, even if it does end in a conventional manner by way of a bloody shootout. Rather, the film is a stark character study of a man on the way out; of a man wasting his life away through drugs, not as a junkie – something LeTour stresses to certain people he meets, but as a dealer and that any relation you might have to the stuff will most probably end you up in very bad shape. As a raw character study, we pick the lead up in his late thirties and cover him for about a fortnight. The damage has been done; we learn of his past troubles and whatever back-story we require by way of speech to other people, and we learn it all at regular, very well spaced intervals.
The film's attention to LeTour's element of unrequited love in his life is additionally well handled, somewhat seamlessly incorporated into the text by way of a series of nervous and unfortunate encounters. We first meet the aforementioned Marianne when LeTour's chauffeur driven saloon stops to pick her up out of the wet. By way of Dafoe's wonderful acting, LeTour is juddery and the professionalism driven image that we have of him up to this point, by way of short sharp encounters and knowing exactly what to say to different sorts of lowlifes, is shattered somewhat when he lies to her about continuing dealing drugs and screws up the whole interaction. The lyrics in the music and the manner in which the character regresses over a photo-album in the following scene could have been explored and executed in a far worse-a manner. The film's remaining scenes of obsession and rejection surrounding these two are well incorporated into the text.
I think Light Sleeper's crowning glory is its real attention to the finer things. There's a scene in which LeTour's consistently outrageously dressed female drug contact Ann, (Susan Sarandon, fresh off a wonderful role in Thelma and Louise) who is the the person that supplies all of the drugs to LeTour along with Robert (Clennon), from their pseudo-upper class decorated apartment, asks LeTour for a lunch meeting the following day. I got an odd sensation after the interaction had ended that a lesser film would cut straight to the lunch: person 'A' proposes something to person 'B'; person 'B' accepts and then we cut to the rendez-vous. Light Sleeper rejects the causality, opting for notions, interactions and ideas to rest on the back-burner whilst the lead carries on for a while interacting further with other people before the day is out. Make no mistake, there'll be no light napping during this picture.
- johnnyboyz
- Nov 3, 2009
- Permalink
Crowd pleasing? No. Challenging? You bet.
Critics often rag on Paul Schrader for writing films about scumbags who find violence a shortcut to salvation. The conventional wisdom is that Schrader's scripts play better if Martin Scorsese directs them (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) and that when Schrader directs Schrader, the result is a heavy, humorless mess. But that's not always true. In directing his own Hardcore and American Gigolo or scripts written in a darkly witty vein (Nicholas Kazan's Patty Hearst, Harold Pinter's Comfort of Strangers), Schrader can be slyly inventive. Crowd pleasing? No. Challenging? You bet.
It's difficult to imagine anyone but Schrader controlling the moral turbulence in his script for Light Sleeper, a boldly resonant thriller that elaborates on Schrader's favored themes of sin and redemption. John LeTour, a drug dealer played by Willem Dafoe, is a loner with direct connections to Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle and American Gigolo's Julian Kay. At forty, LeTour is in crisis. His boss, Ann (a fireball Susan Sarandon), is about to chuck drugs for cosmetics. LeTour is losing his coke customers to crack. And he is spooked by a psychic, strikingly played by Mary Beth Hurt. But in his diary (one of several tips of the hat to Robert Bresson's seminal Pickpocket), LeTour writes, "I can be a good person."
Maybe so, but transcendence doesn't come easy. New York's mean streets, given a noirish sheen by cinematographer Ed Lachman, tempt LeTour as he drives through the night making deliveries to the sleek and the sleazy. He is heartened by a chance meeting with Marianne (Dana Delany), an embittered former love and former addict who lets down her defenses for one night. (Warning: Hearing Delany announce, "I'm dripping," during a hot sex scene with Dafoe may be too much for China Beach fans.) As expected, violence erupts before things settle down. Schrader is out there again, testing the limits of audience tolerance. Good for him. Buoyed by his questing spirit and Dafoe's mesmerizing performance, Light Sleeper might just keep you up nights.
It's difficult to imagine anyone but Schrader controlling the moral turbulence in his script for Light Sleeper, a boldly resonant thriller that elaborates on Schrader's favored themes of sin and redemption. John LeTour, a drug dealer played by Willem Dafoe, is a loner with direct connections to Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle and American Gigolo's Julian Kay. At forty, LeTour is in crisis. His boss, Ann (a fireball Susan Sarandon), is about to chuck drugs for cosmetics. LeTour is losing his coke customers to crack. And he is spooked by a psychic, strikingly played by Mary Beth Hurt. But in his diary (one of several tips of the hat to Robert Bresson's seminal Pickpocket), LeTour writes, "I can be a good person."
Maybe so, but transcendence doesn't come easy. New York's mean streets, given a noirish sheen by cinematographer Ed Lachman, tempt LeTour as he drives through the night making deliveries to the sleek and the sleazy. He is heartened by a chance meeting with Marianne (Dana Delany), an embittered former love and former addict who lets down her defenses for one night. (Warning: Hearing Delany announce, "I'm dripping," during a hot sex scene with Dafoe may be too much for China Beach fans.) As expected, violence erupts before things settle down. Schrader is out there again, testing the limits of audience tolerance. Good for him. Buoyed by his questing spirit and Dafoe's mesmerizing performance, Light Sleeper might just keep you up nights.
Schrader's best?
- FilmFlaneur
- Jun 8, 2003
- Permalink
It's American Gigolo with drugs
- valerie-86
- Dec 13, 2005
- Permalink
Solemn, stressful and dark; when do you turn your life around.
How long can your business be a success? When do you try to change and upgrade your life? Susan Sarandon is an upscale drug dealer with a list of elite clients. One of her better runners (Willem Dafoe)is burning out delivering the "goods". He is fighting with his conscience and wants to give the job up and better his life. Sarandon also is planning to stop dealing drugs. Dafoe wonders if this will put an end to his loneliness and sad existence.
Sarandon and Dafoe are absolutely great. Sarandon seems just as sexy and self assured as she was in BULL DURHAM. Dafoe puts a jagged edge on his intense persona. Also in the cast are Dana Delany and David Clennon. And quite comical is David Spade, who has a brief scene as a stoned "Cokehead".
Writer/director Paul Schrader presents a complex modern day story in an old fashioned way. At times you may think this film drags a little; but this type story needs to simmer not boil.
Sarandon and Dafoe are absolutely great. Sarandon seems just as sexy and self assured as she was in BULL DURHAM. Dafoe puts a jagged edge on his intense persona. Also in the cast are Dana Delany and David Clennon. And quite comical is David Spade, who has a brief scene as a stoned "Cokehead".
Writer/director Paul Schrader presents a complex modern day story in an old fashioned way. At times you may think this film drags a little; but this type story needs to simmer not boil.
- michaelRokeefe
- Mar 20, 2001
- Permalink
The Art Of The Deal.
- rmax304823
- Nov 6, 2013
- Permalink
Schrader's Finest Film
Paul Schrader's finest film to date, and firmly lodged in my top 10, this is a surprisingly overlooked and underrated gem. Often touted as a "modern noir" movie, I really don't consider it in that genre at all.
The heart of the film is a reworking of the themes embodied in Schrader's earlier film "American Gigolo", where a man is forced to confront the fact that the life he is leading is fundamentally unsatisfying, reassess what he wants to do, find out who his real friends are and ultimately get redeemed through love.
Willem Dafoe's character Le Tour's journey is a slow but inevitable one, as his drug-dealing days are numbered due to his boss Susan Sarandon (also splendid) "going straight". Most of the scenes take place at night (hence the noir tag), but this is partly a consequence of the drug-dealing aspect and partly to capture the unreal mood of a man who doesn't know where he fits in to "normal" life. The device whereby Le Tour spends many hours writing his thoughts in an exercise book, throwing it away when he fills it, then starting another one, is so strong and startling that I put aside my usual dislike of narration. The soundtrack is also excellent and fits and expands the mood very well.
The best scene is probably the one in the hospital cafeteria, where Le Tour has a conversation with his ex-girlfriend that he hasn't seen for a long time - immaculately acted, tremendously understated with so many things going unsaid... The final scene, although Schrader nicked it from a French film, and used it before in "Gigolo", is still very powerful, based on the idea that whether a man is in prison or not is completely unrelated to whether he is free.
The heart of the film is a reworking of the themes embodied in Schrader's earlier film "American Gigolo", where a man is forced to confront the fact that the life he is leading is fundamentally unsatisfying, reassess what he wants to do, find out who his real friends are and ultimately get redeemed through love.
Willem Dafoe's character Le Tour's journey is a slow but inevitable one, as his drug-dealing days are numbered due to his boss Susan Sarandon (also splendid) "going straight". Most of the scenes take place at night (hence the noir tag), but this is partly a consequence of the drug-dealing aspect and partly to capture the unreal mood of a man who doesn't know where he fits in to "normal" life. The device whereby Le Tour spends many hours writing his thoughts in an exercise book, throwing it away when he fills it, then starting another one, is so strong and startling that I put aside my usual dislike of narration. The soundtrack is also excellent and fits and expands the mood very well.
The best scene is probably the one in the hospital cafeteria, where Le Tour has a conversation with his ex-girlfriend that he hasn't seen for a long time - immaculately acted, tremendously understated with so many things going unsaid... The final scene, although Schrader nicked it from a French film, and used it before in "Gigolo", is still very powerful, based on the idea that whether a man is in prison or not is completely unrelated to whether he is free.
Slight Sleeper
***1/2 Written and directed by Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of 'Taxi Driver', there are similar themes in 'Light sleeper' that echo its predecessor in its urban isolation of the protagonist and the city as a sewer environment. Willem Dafoe is wonderful as a coke dealer on the verge of chartering new territory; he's trying to make sense of his past, as exemplified by his chance encounters with a former flame (Dana Delany) in which he so badly wants to cling, and plans for his future as his boss is moving on from the business. This is a character driven story, and the characters are well-drawn. Willem Dafoe's John Le Tour is a more mature Travis Bickle, past-his-prime, darkly contemplative and endlessly writing in journals trying to find meaning or direction. After beating his cocaine addiction 2 years before and adjusting, can he readjust again, finding semblance? However, as others have mentioned, the film should've ended with him harmoniously? between two Chinese paintings, leaning back on the bed. After that, studio meddling had to have ensued, as the sugary conclusion does not fit. Separate Note: Would some company already release 'Blue Collar' by Paul Schrader and with Richard Pryor already?
- ShempMyMcMalley
- Aug 5, 2008
- Permalink
Tough, gripping, and atmospheric.
When the subject of modern noir films is discussed, there are always a small group of films that is mentioned. "The Last Seduction", "Blood Simple", "L.A. Confidential", etc. All worthy selections in their own right. Even better, I think, is "Light Sleeper", which is a noir film right down to the core of its being. Taking place almost entirely in afterhours Manhattan, it's the story of John LeTour (Willem Dafoe), a drug courier who works for Ann (Susan Sarandon), delivering cocaine to upscale clients. LeTour wanders around the city, chauffered about in a black sedan by a silent driver named Carlos. It's a lonely existence, one that has "noir" written all over it. But this isn't a shallow or violent or ironically self-aware redux of noir films. Much like another recent Schrader-scripted film, this plunges right into the heart of the story, not standing back at all, undetached. Unlike other recent noir films, such as "The Usual Suspects", this film's soul lies not in convoluted twists and turns, but in redemption. LeTour spends the film searching for a meaning to his life, looking in the wrong place, and eventually finding meaning and hope in a somewhat unlikely place. But in the end, he realizes that it's all he has left to hang onto. A beautiful film.
- contronatura
- Feb 18, 2000
- Permalink
mediocre noir
This film has to be one of Schrader's best films for sure.
"Light Sleeper" is a great and very effective yarn that follows John LeTour (Willem Dafoe), a drug trafficker/former addict who seems miserable and lonely while bringing drugs to users in the Big Apple. LeTour's life is put to the test when he finds out from Robert (David Clennon), that their boss, Ann (Susan Sarandon), is finally switching to cosmetics instead of drugs and an old flame, Marianne Joseph (Dana Delany), comes to town to visit her ailing mother. The movie moves at a steady pace and doesn't get ugly until the fierce and bloody shootout near the end of the movie. I must note that I'm a big fan of Dafoe and the strong (and moving) performance that he gives here is why I admire him a lot.
The film's photography, shot by Ed Lachman ("The Limey", "The Virgin Suicides"), is nothing short of brilliant and beautiful. In the early moments of the film, there are several small piles of garbages that nearly cover up the sidewalks and the bottom of the street lights. Dafoe, who also narrates the movie, mentions that there's a strike. Also, the musical score that's composed and performed by Michael Been, is good to listen to and it stayed with me during the whole film.
Paul Schrader (who directed the movie and wrote the screenplay) knows very well how to handle the film here with a simple and wise approach. Most of his earlier (and recent) work, dating back (and now) to the screenplay(s) that he wrote for Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and "Bringing Out The Dead" and one of his own films - "American Giglo" make great examples of anyone who works at night and feels agitated. "Light Sleeper" itself has to be one of Schrader's best films for sure.
The film's photography, shot by Ed Lachman ("The Limey", "The Virgin Suicides"), is nothing short of brilliant and beautiful. In the early moments of the film, there are several small piles of garbages that nearly cover up the sidewalks and the bottom of the street lights. Dafoe, who also narrates the movie, mentions that there's a strike. Also, the musical score that's composed and performed by Michael Been, is good to listen to and it stayed with me during the whole film.
Paul Schrader (who directed the movie and wrote the screenplay) knows very well how to handle the film here with a simple and wise approach. Most of his earlier (and recent) work, dating back (and now) to the screenplay(s) that he wrote for Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and "Bringing Out The Dead" and one of his own films - "American Giglo" make great examples of anyone who works at night and feels agitated. "Light Sleeper" itself has to be one of Schrader's best films for sure.
- mhasheider
- Apr 10, 2001
- Permalink
dark New York nights
John LeTour (Willem Dafoe) is a high class drug dealer in Manhattan. His boss Ann (Susan Sarandon) is moving into legitimate cosmetics business. He can't sleep and often writes in his notebooks. He runs into former love Marianne Jost (Dana Delany). She has been clean for four years. He tells her that he's been clean for two and has stopped dealing. She calls him out right away but spends the night with him after a second meeting. She falls apart after her mother dies on that night in the hospital while she's away with him. Later, he finds her drugged out with his disturbing client Tis (Victor Garber).
Paul Schrader goes down another dark road to find LeTour. Dafoe is a powerful actor although I would have liked him to fall apart more. The man is dealing with insomnia and guilt. It would be advantageous to add delusions and outbursts. It's a good film but it could go more disturbing.
Paul Schrader goes down another dark road to find LeTour. Dafoe is a powerful actor although I would have liked him to fall apart more. The man is dealing with insomnia and guilt. It would be advantageous to add delusions and outbursts. It's a good film but it could go more disturbing.
- SnoopyStyle
- Mar 11, 2017
- Permalink
Under-par Nineties Noir from an Overrated and Underperforming Director
For me Schrader is a second-rate director, and Light Sleeper is a poor attempt at a modern day film noir. Its attempt at angst-ridden existentialism renders the movie ponderous and dull whilst the dialogue is often unengaging and vacuous. Considering this film was released in the same year as Reservoir Dogs, one can see how writers such as Schrader were being seen as part of the Old Hollywood. I know these days there has been a volt face as far as this movie and Tarantino's debut are concerned with Tarantino laughed at as a fan boy director and Schrader now lauded as the master director he never was. But this effort is rather under-whelming. It feels like an average TV movie with a terrible soundtrack and unconvincing sets. Like someone has tried to remake Taxi Driver on a micro-budget.
For me Schrader, with all his screen writing kudos, is an ineffective director, and Light Sleeper is a perfect example of his overrated directorial abilities.
For me Schrader, with all his screen writing kudos, is an ineffective director, and Light Sleeper is a perfect example of his overrated directorial abilities.
- Waerdnotte
- May 19, 2012
- Permalink
They made a great movie, and no one came.
Like "Prince Of The City", this is another great drug movie, with the greatest set ever built for a movie, New York City. Very few people saw "Prince", and I'll wager fewer saw this one. It has a cast of New York stage actors, who make the usual run of Hollywood anorexic barbie dolls, and Sunset Strip would be tough guys, look exactly like what they are, refugees from some "hysterical" wise cracking sit-com. I have to mention each one of these artists because they're so incredibly good. Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany (what a performance), David Clennon, Mary Beth Hurt, Jane Adams(the looney sister from "Happiness"), David Spade, and last, but certainly not least Victor Garber. Paul Schrader wrote and directed, and if he never does another production, his mother can know that she gave birth to a major cinematic artist. The story can impress people as very hokey. Dafoe is a coke pusher. But he's very sensitive and loving, and is looking for a "better life". He's so guilt ridden as a pusher, he can hardly sleep. Oh, give me a break. But wait. With Dafoe I bought it completely. I was even rooting for him to get back with his former junkie lover Dana Delany. Delany and Susan Sarandon give major performances, Sarandon as a major supplier also looking to go straight as a cosmetic maven. This is a major manual on acting....look, learn, and enjoy.
Past its prime
"Light Sleeper" tells of a burned out on-call Manhattan, NY drug dealer (Dafoe) with an upscale clientele who works for a woman (Sarandon) who dreams of going legit with a cosmetics business. This film is earnest in its attempt to tell a plaintive story about a man stuck between a junkie's history and a job with no future. However, "Light Sleeper" is also fitfully hokey in its presentation which is bland, stagey, contrived and doesn't provide a solid forum for its character-driven tale. Worth a look for fans of the players and those who haven't yet had their fill of flicks about the recreational nose candy business. (B-)
A Solid Drama
Wide awake (not?)
Drifting through life - I guess ome can really understand what that's like. The status quo is something you don't approve of, but you don't have the willpower to break through and change yourself or rather the way you live. It probably one of the few cases to depict this quite exceptional, without really pointing it out. In a way this is quite amazingly done.
And then there is the case! Yes Susan Sarandon and yes Willem Dafoe - but what Sam Rockwell in a small scene too? And even David Spade in a role that will not annoy many (though also not make many laugh as he is able to do). The story itself is pretty straightforward but it is the layers that really should get to you - that is if you are looking for them. Maybe you'll just enjoy a thriller, which also is not a bad thing at all. Human depths and flaws be damned
And then there is the case! Yes Susan Sarandon and yes Willem Dafoe - but what Sam Rockwell in a small scene too? And even David Spade in a role that will not annoy many (though also not make many laugh as he is able to do). The story itself is pretty straightforward but it is the layers that really should get to you - that is if you are looking for them. Maybe you'll just enjoy a thriller, which also is not a bad thing at all. Human depths and flaws be damned
The Gritty Underbelly of La Cote Basque
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.
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.
- piXelpiXelpiXel
- Nov 3, 2006
- Permalink
Schrader gets it right!
A drug runner searchers for redemption in a life that only has a past and present with no future in sight. Top performance from Willem and a clever characterisation from Saradon. The dialogue fits in perfectly while the music sets the mood right.
LIGHT SLEEPER (DIDIER BECU)
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....
- Didier-Becu
- Aug 27, 2003
- Permalink
Light Sleeper Schrader's Best Up To This Point In Time
- CitizenCaine
- Nov 13, 2009
- Permalink
Powerful and engaging story .............
An upscale drug dealer, Susan Sarandon, trying to get out of the business for a future in cosmetics, leaves her runner, Williem Dafoe, with an uncertain future. This straightforward story is propelled by Dafoe's heartfelt performance. Make no mistake, this is Willem Dafoe's movie, and "Light Sleeper" takes the audience into his dark world. The acting by everyone is extremely convincing, including an almost unrecognizable David Spade. Willem Dafoe's torment is presented in such a believable manner he elicits sympathy despite his unsavory occupation. .................................................................. Recommended viewing. - MERK
- merklekranz
- May 23, 2010
- Permalink
Nothing much
A Paul Schrader film set in the dark and gritty streets of Manhattan should always be a good sign, but rather than feeling like a welcome return to Taxi Driver territory, Light Sleeper feels like an attempted knock-off by an inferior writer and director. On the surface, it has everything it takes to be an instant classic - quality actors, gorgeous cinematography, a tormented and torn protagonist. But it doesn't add up to a coherent and captivating film; the various subplots go nowhere and don't lead to a satisfying conclusion, Dafoe's narration is filled to the brim with clichés of the genre, which doesn't help his character feel any more interesting than it does. The music is awful and feels like it was dragged out of the 80's, and destroys any pretense of a neo-noir atmosphere the film may have. And while Dafoe gives a solid performance, and Susan Sarandon is absolutely terrific playing decisively against type, Dana Delany and Jane Adams didn't work for me and took a lot of credibility away from the film.
Light Sleeper looks and feels like it should a neo-noir with old-fashioned storytelling and character study, which is why I wanted to like it much more than I did; maybe the high expectations are why I ended up disliking it more than it deserves. It's not a terrible movie - just one that should have been great, and is instead utterly forgettable and disposable. I remain a loyal fan of Paul Schrader, Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon, but to me this isn't a high point for any of them.
Light Sleeper looks and feels like it should a neo-noir with old-fashioned storytelling and character study, which is why I wanted to like it much more than I did; maybe the high expectations are why I ended up disliking it more than it deserves. It's not a terrible movie - just one that should have been great, and is instead utterly forgettable and disposable. I remain a loyal fan of Paul Schrader, Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon, but to me this isn't a high point for any of them.
- itamarscomix
- May 4, 2013
- Permalink