Light Sleeper (1992)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written & Directed by Paul Schrader
Starring Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, David Clennon, Dana Delany, Mary Beth Hurt

Released by: Artisan.
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Nope; appears in a 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Skip it.

John LeTour (Dafoe) is a drug dealer who also just happens to be a reformed addict. The users that frequent him are very upper-class. He works with a lady named Ann (Sarandon) and Robert (Clennon) and they run a very tight ship. However, John starts to wax philosophical about the profession that he has chosen for himself, mostly becuase he has really never gotten over his divorce from Marianne (Delany). He begins to doubt his effectiveness as a "DD" just as Robert and Ann begin to feel the same way.

Well, there have been better movies--even better movies along this same them--and in the hands of a lesser cast, this would have been horrendous. As it is, it is merely tolerable. It's difficult to really connect with any of the characters at all, even though they tried to build a connection with the ex-wife plot line, but it really doesn't work out. Dafoe and Sarandon are very real in their parts, but that's not all that surprising. They have shown themselves to be very strong actors throughout their careers. What's neat about this movie is that the supporting cast is just as strong as the principals. Sam Rockwell, Victor Garber and Delany are simply stunning in their roles. What's really bad about this movie, though, is that it goes nowhere and takes its sweet damn time doing so, complete with an atrocious soundtrack.

The DVD has probably the treatment that this movie really needed: there is absolutely nothing in the way of bonus material on the disc. There's no cast and crew commentary track, although considering the film, no one can be blamed for failing to provide one. Another interesting bit might have been to have a fifteen-minute featurette, for those of us that want more information on the thought process that went into writing such a film--but don't want to sit through an entire commentary. Alas, there's nothing even for those who would clamor for something. It's not even presented in its widescreen original format, even though it took some digging to confirm that there was one. Region 2 discs do come with a widescreen version, so that's quite sad.

So, this one definitely stays off even the rental list. It's just not worth spending the time to see.