Chasing Sleep (2000)

A college professor wakes up to find his wife has not returned home, then struggles to understand her disappearance.

Director:

Michael Walker

Writer:

Michael Walker

Stars:

Jeff Daniels, Molly Price, Ben Shenkman

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jeff Daniels	...	Ed Saxon
Molly Price	...	Susie
Ben Shenkman	...	Officer Stewart
Gil Bellows	...	Detective Derm
Michelle Held	...	Mrs. Mastrioni
Emily Bergl	...	Sadie
Julian McMahon	...	George
Guy Sanville	...	Doctor
Lisa Sodman Elzinga	...	Pregnant Nurse
Dennis North	...	Detective Mazurek
Patrick Moug	...	Detective Snyder
Zach Grenier	...	Geoffrey
Eros Biox	...	Baby (as Eros Ion Biox)
Tom Whalen	...	911 Operator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Betsey Amid	...	Voice of Eve

Storyline

Via Tubitv on the Roku; Jeff Daniels (Traitor) plays a man left devastated by the sudden disappearance of his wife begins to suffer from insomnia which leaves him confused and with a loose grip on reality. From the year 2000 1 hour and 44 minutes rated R

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Plot Keywords:

professor | barefoot | teacher | student | nightmare | 

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Taglines:

The nightmare begins when you open your eyes...

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence, some sexuality and drug content

Details

Country:

Canada USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Insomnies

Filming Locations:

Stockbridge, Michigan, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+,Forensic Films,Glaski Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The DREAMATOL pills that Ed shakes into his hand and then swallows in the beginning of the film are orange colored SweetTarts.

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Crazy Credits

The text at the end of the credits: The director would like to mention that he was not going 92 miles an hour when he was pulled over in Waterlou Township and should have his fine refunded and an apology send to him.

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Soundtracks

Piano Recording No. 6 Andante Soave
Written by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel

User Reviews

Abstract but logical

Chasing Sleep is more of an artistic endeavour through symbolism rather than a straightforward story. The average audience would find this film pointless and boring, though if one were to be open minded to its abstract ideas, they would find a deeply disturbing and interesting exploration into a character, and the study there of. The symbolic names add to the themes: George SIMIAN - relating to the primitive actions which the character embarks in, like an ape. Ed SAXON - relating to the evolved society, as in the character resorting to much less physical action.

Statments of societal conflicts are more represented than spoonfed to the audience. Though Ed is more advanced in his projection of self, he resorts to the advancements of man (the pills) to drown his worries, due to his wife's infidelities. The surreal scenes are paramount to tuning the audience in on the character's paranoia and past actions.

The sparse dialogue is often Kubrickian, and the dark imagery is somewhat Lynchian, while the story is quite Poe-esque (it seems to borrow a bit from The Tell Tale Heart). The slow disintigration of the house represents the character's disintigration of mind, his paranoia and conscience are eating away at him, because he is not a murderer or malicious man. But it also works on different levels where as it hints at the idea that his wife was murdered in the house itself and buried inside the walls - which also represents the burying of these memories in Ed's mind. If one would pay close attention to every action in the film, one would be able to decipher the actual story unveiling in reality while the character is drenched in his surreal world.

This film is abstract, and subjective in it's intention to involve the audience more than entertain. Perhaps some character's only exist in Ed's mind. It is for the audience to decide. While a film maker has the creative freedom to project their own ideas into something, they also must give enough for the audience to use their own imagination to create what happens according to them. Chasing Sleep gives the audience the power to use (like reading a book) rather than just be lost in some spoonfeeding frenzy.