Sleepwalk With Me: I Could've Watched it Over and Over Again

I have a confession to make (more of an apology really, just imagine I said ‘sorry’ at the end of this sentence): I procrastinate when it comes to writing movie reviews. In the case of movies like Transformers, I wouldn't feel so bad i.e. I do not like Transformers. But when it's a movie I really loved watching and one I really want readers to watch, it just bums me out. Also, by the time you’ve read this, the movie's no longer playing in a theater near you. And that’s why I feel awful writing such a belated review about the lovely Sleepwalk With Me. If this paragraph makes me sound like I'm under the (possibly false) impression that I could single-handedly resurrect the box-office outcome of a small indie flick, you are absolutely right! So shall we move on to the small matter of the movie review then?

Sleepwalk With Me is a story about a 30-year old man (Matt Pandamiglio played by Mike Birbiglia) trying to figure life out. A man trying to choose between a long-term relationship that may or may not lead to marriage and a stand-up career that may or may not take off.

Matt’s take on love, relationships and marriage are especially insightful, not to mention howlarious. Not hilarious. Howlarious. He claims “falling in love for the first time is a completely transcendent experience. It’s like eating pizza-flavored ice cream. Your brain can’t even process that level of joy.” Now I can’t remember if first love tasted like pizza-flavored ice-cream. As much I love devouring both, I couldn’t imagine it. But I couldn’t stop laughing about it either.

I can’t really say he’s done a great job of portraying Matt, since Mike Birbiglia is Matt. The name ‘Matt Pandamiglio’ incidently is the only thing that separates this movie from being categorized as a documentary. Everything in the movie really happened to Mike Birbiglia. I wouldn’t doubt him because he wrote a 191-page book about it. The movie intrigued me so much the first time that I had to read the book. "The book's always better than the movie" right? And then the book, in turn, intrigued me so much that I had to go see the movie again.

And so I sleepwalked with him twice (this movie is so funny it makes me sound funny)! I wish I could I say I watched it again because I loved the book. Or because it resonated with me. Or because I sleepwalk. Or because I’m going through the dilemma of choosing between a relationship and a career. Or (especially) because I’m a struggling stand-up artist. But no. I didn’t watch it a second time for any of those reasons. I watched it again simply because it was just so funny. And because a 30-year old man who’s lost in life gives such an honest, moving outlook on life, relationships and marriage. I could’ve watched it over and over again.

Watch it if you liked: Mike Birbiglia’s stand-up material or his stories on This American Life. And regardless of if you sleepwalk or not, it will make you laugh. It does not play at the Cedar Lee so definitely watch it on pay-per-view or when it comes out on DVD.