With his self-effacing wit and nonplussed air of bewilderment, Matt Pandamiglio, an aspiring standup comic, walks and literally sleepwalks us through his odyssey from oblivion to self-discovery. Often narrating from behind the wheel of a car and even more frequently bookending his frightening yet funny episodes with REM sleep disorder with seriocomic asides, Pandamiglio (real-life comedian Mike Birbiglia, who also directs) makes us care even though he assumes an attitude of could-care-less.
His particular sleep disorder, we come to learn, involves the physically acting out of his dreams–often nightmares–as they happen. Strange, uncanny scenes ensue. At first embarrassing and eventually dangerous, the well-rendered, surreal sleepwalking dreams perform a dual purpose of offsetting the comic elements of the story. Added to his commitment phobia with girlfriend Abby (Lauren Ambrose, Six Feet Under) and his battles with an eccentric, Gracie Allen-ish mom (Carol Kane) and an overbearing dad (James Reborn, never better), Sleepwalk With Me etches the multi-faceted evolution of a comic finding his own voice while losing his footing. As he incorporates more of his autobiographical demons into his act, he begins to turn a corner creatively. A spot-on wry and insensitive 70-ish lady agent books him at a high school lip-sync contest, then as low-pay opening act in a zig-sagging tour replete with faceless motel rooms, a broken down car, and more sleepwalking episodes. Unable to tone down his late night food consumption and before-bed internet/phone activity as prescribed by a sleep disorder physician (who appears in Matt’s car with him in a hilarious scene), Matt does what many a touring artist would do: hangs out with and parties with other comics. That’s when this sleepwalking stuff really goes off.
As for Abby, she’s been going with him for years and wants marriage. It’s a subtle yet effective point of the film that even though they head in the direction of her goal, the only time we witness the otherwise loyal and supportive Abby in an audience at one Matt’s gigs is very early on when he’s bartending at a comedy club and doing last-minute fill-ins onstage. She never says anything, yet afterward when asked how they liked the gig, her friends quip, “we’ve seen it before during college.” As Matt riskily starts working his relationship into his act, the big payoff of a horrified Abby in his audience never comes. She’s not at any of his gigs. Is Abby guilty by omission?
Based on Birbiglia’s one-man 2008 theatrical piece, Sleepwalk With Me may be occasionally light and uneven around the edges but, essentially, in upending our preconceptions of films about comedians and ambition, it makes a sizable impression. Birbiglia’s alter ego is more than likeable. He’s simultaneously biting and skittish with an outsized candor. Life may be throwing him curves but he’s got a guiding inner radar, often possibly irrational but never inauthentic.
3.5 Sleepwalking and Commitment Hijinks (out of 5)