Wow! Such a good movie.

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

For lovers of stand-up comedy. If you have suffered from sleep disorder you will relate to the main character's dilemma. And then there is the angst he experiences within his long-term relationship. The movie makes you really feel from both sides. I guess what wasn't resolved for me was how his girlfriend in particular came to see his use of his private life in his comedy act. But a movie that gets away with talk-to-camera as well as voice-over narration, neither of which I normally like, is a winner. It's the pathos. (viewed 10/16)

Keen on becoming a stand-up comedian, a US bartender's quest for success is hindered by his increasingly dangerous sleepwalking habits in this semiautobiographical drama written, directed by and starring Mike Birbiglia. The film offers a decent insight into the behind-the-scenes of stand-up comedy (though Nora Ephron's 'This Is My Life' is still arguably the go-to film for that) and many of the sleepwalking incidents are amusing. Unfortunately, however, Birbiglia's sleepwalking is never central to the film. The majority of screen time is spent on him experiencing cold feet after he is pressured into committing to his longtime girlfriend, and while this is obviously important as a possible cause of his sleepwalking, all of the related domestic drama is very much by the books. Carol Kane and James Rebhorn certainly have their bright moments as Birbiglia's at-times suffocating parents, but the film is more dynamic in the precious few scenes in which Birbiglia is asleep. These sections come particularly well edited as they fluidly bounce between his dreams and the actual actions he is performing, such as balancing dangerously on the edge of a box and taking a shower fully clothed. It would be interesting to learn what actual sleepwalkers make of the film. While inspired by true events, quite a lot of here has clearly been exaggerated, and yet the film also manages to offer some curious insights into the researched causes of unusual sleep habits. Is it all a matter of not eating big meals, using technology or listening to the news before bed? We might never know for sure.

I was so shocked by this film because it seemed to come with great reviews and a lot of people singing it's praises. Maybe I don't get Mike Birbiglia's comedy, maybe it doesn't translate on film. Whatever the reasons this is what I thought:Poor comedian treats his long term girlfriend with total disrespect or honesty and becomes famous, but remains a terrible comedian. The only joke in this film is on the audience for sticking it out.Indie standards are employed to keep you watching even though it becomes clear after a while that this film is going no where. The only redeeming character in it is the father, who can be pretty funny at times with his insistent over-fathering.The character I was most frustrated by was Abby. She goes from being a clearly intelligent, intriguing and honest character to one with little depth or courage. A real shame.

"The film is strange especially when dealing with the main relationship between a sleepwalking comedian and a women who just wants marriage, not much story there for a film in my mind" The plot to this film is strange to describe even though it seems like a very normal plot. Matt Pandamiglio (Mike Birbiglia) is a normal guy who has been in a relationship with Abby (Lauren Ambrose) for eight years and even when his sister gets married he still does not want to get married. At the same time Matt is starting to suffer from sleepwalking and chooses to ignore this problem while he tries to reach his dream goal by being a comedian working on the road.The film is very small with a storyline that is not overly interesting. The film is very short and most of the characters are underdeveloped as they do not have a beginning or an end just being included in the story as a conflict for the two main characters. Some of the writing is poor in my mind because the film for being short moves very slow and from beginning to end we do not get much of an interesting story worth watching. The whole sleep walking part of the film was laughable because it made no sense and did not need to be included because the film could have easily been an expected movie where the man does not want to get married and I still would have been negative but the sleep walking part of the film makes it worse for me.Mike Birbiglia plays the main character of Matt is very boring and poorly written throughout. Mike adds nothing to the character and after some time just becomes a talking head playing a stupid character that makes no sense about anything he does. He plays the sleep walking scenes not well which brings down the film even more. Lauren Ambrose plays his girlfriend Abby and even though Mike is given the opportunity to perform Ambrose is given almost nothing even though she tries to make this character a good one. She is off screen for some time and even when she is on the screen she is mostly forgotten about as the story tries to focus on the horrible character of Matt as she struggles to stay with him. The supporting cast is given almost nothing to do but Carol Kane and James Redhorn are worth mentioning as Matt's parents.The film is boring and almost laughable how slow the pace is for a film this short. Nothing worth talking about in performances and with stupid sleep walking being a main plot point the film is not worth any money paid to watch it.MOVIE GRADE: E- (MVP: Mike Birbiglia)