Chasing Sleep

Buy This Item Chasing Sleep by Lions Gate  Available from Amazon  $9.98  on 11-16-2008     This movie contains echoes of Edgar Allen Poe's "Telltale Heart," and also perhaps a few suggestions of the cult movie "Eraserhead." In all three works, the protagonist inhabits a house that becomes more and more animate. The plumbing growls and knocks and oozes strange effluents. There are ever-growing spots on the walls and ceiling. There is something on (or under) the floor. <br /> <br />But this is an essentially realistic rather than a surrealistic portrayal of a man trapped - in either his own imaginings or else in some actual, eerie conspiracy of natural phenomena. Jeff Daniels gives a tour de force performance as the man who reports his wife missing, and who then spirals down into a gnawing, insomniac worry that she may have met with foul play. <br /> <br />This movie becomes especially intriguing in light of all the recent publicity given to men suspected of murdering their wives. We think of Lacy Peterson and all the others as we watch Daniels' increasingly bleary and disoriented response to the police, to the outside world in general. Is he just being consumed with fear about what might have happened to his wife? Or is it a guilty conscience that is corroding him? The movie kept me guessing - until very near the end. <br /> Reader Reviews (3.5/5 stars) This film reminds me of Le Locataire, Roman Polanski's superb thriller about a man slowly succumbing to his neuroses and descending into madness. Most of the story takes place inside one home and the pacing is slow and deliberate, so it might not appeal to all tastes. Fans of Kafka and Polanski, however, are likely to find much of interest here. Jeff Daniels is quite good as Ed Saxon, a professor at a local college. He phones the police early one morning to report his wife missing and with their help he begins to unravel the mystery of her disappearance. The story unfolds from Saxon's point of view, so the viewer really knows as little as he does. Eventually, however, it becomes very apparent to the viewer that Saxon should be cognizant of more than he is. It is always fun to watch psychologically damaged individuals become unhinged in movies because reality becomes contemptuously and surreally distorted, though no one actually gets hurt. Worth watching at lease once.

Chasing Sleep Available from Amazon Price: $9.98 Updated on 11-16-2008.

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