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SLEEPWALKING Send This Review to a Friend
Although a sincere movie trying to make a story poignant, “Sleepwalking” is basically a downer that never catches emotional fire despite its decent cast. Directed by William Maher from a screenplay by Zac Stanford, the film concerns a mother who is sadly screwed up, abandons her 11-year-old daughter and runs off with a guy. The story deals with the effort of the mother’s younger brother with problems of his own to step in and rescue the youngster and try his best to care for her. It could be his redemption as well as her salvation.
The film spends a good deal of time showing the financial and emotional pressures on Joleen, the mother, played convincingly by fine actress Charlize Theron. AnnaSophia Robb is also effective as Tara, the daughter, as is Nick Stahl as James, the bother struggling to do the right thing. Dennis Hopper makes the most of a nasty role as James’s father. There has been no love lost between them, and when he takes James and Tara in to work on his farm, his meanness is apparent and the tension escalates tragically. Woody Harrelson has a supporting role as James’s friend.
The story holds interest to an extent, but “Sleepwalking” moves along drearily, and one may feel as if sleepwalking through a tale that should have been more compelling. An Overture Films release.
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