Film Review: Sleep with Me (1994)
Among films remembered for the wrong reasons, a very special place belongs to the 1994 romantic drama Sleep with Me. Today, this film is famously associated with a monologue that barely touches upon its own subject matter but instead regales listeners with a reinterpretation of a completely different film. However, thanks to numerous quotes and internet memes, this particular scene somehow managed to become a massive part of popular culture, eclipsing the actual narrative of the movie it appears in.
The plot of Sleep with Me is relatively simple, dealing with a love triangle between three best friends. While on a trip, Joseph (Eric Stoltz), proposes to his longtime girlfriend Sarah (Meg Tilly). Much to the chagrin of their friend Frank (Craig Sheffer)—who has been secretly in love with Sarah for years but lacked the courage to confess—Joseph gets his way. Once Sarah is married to Joseph, a year passes, and Frank not only carries his unrequited torch but finally makes his feelings known by kissing Sarah in Frank’s presence. This leads to all manner of awkward situations as Joseph, Sarah, and Frank mingle in the same circles connected to the Los Angeles entertainment industry and frequent the same parties, with suppressed feelings eventually leading to an escalating conflict.
The film was made during a time when American independent cinema suddenly went in vogue—at least in the eyes of snobbish critics. Directed by Rory Kelly, Sleep With Me was made with an extremely low budget and had six screenwriters, all friends who clearly took at least some inspiration from their own lives. This reflects in the film’s relatively short runtime and a vignette-style structure designed to capture the essence of the city and its characters.
Yet, although this indie pedigree suggests that the screenwriters and director should have been laser-focused on plot and dialogue, it never happens. The story is very weak, and attempts at humour are usually very lame. This is, to a certain degree, compensated by an unusually strong cast full of names that would go on to make great things in the years to follow. The cast includes Thomas Gibson as the British stoner Nigel, Todd Field as an aspiring screenwriter, Vanessa Angel and Adrienne Shelly as Frank’s unfortunate would-be dates, and Joey Lauren Adams as aspiring singer Lauren. Perhaps the most formidable presence is Parker Posey, the “queen of independents,” who appears as the seductive Athena who snatches Joseph away, allowing Frank to make his move on Sarah. Posey also appears topless, which makes the film further interesting for certain sections of her fandom.
Despite these talents and interesting characters, they only manage to turn the main plot and protagonists look generic and uninteresting. The central issue is actually quite simple, yet it gets resolved in a rather melodramatic and in many ways conservative way. Although the film had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and was greeted there favourably, most US critics went cold, and problems with distribution initially made it into one of the more obscure pieces of 1990s independent cinema.
The turning point was undoubtedly a single scene near the end. Quentin Tarantino appears as a party guest at Duane’s and starts a monologue during which he explains to Duane his now-famous reinterpretation of Top Gun as the story of a man confronting his homosexuality. This iconoclastic view is delivered in a scene that is poorly edited, with the monologue intercut with much more prosaic scenes elsewhere at the party. However, Tarantino’s geekish energy in delivering his argument is so impressive that the monologue completely changed the perception of the 1986 blockbuster. Top Gun itself was often characterised as homoerotic due to its focus on “cool” young men in their prime often appearing shirtless, and Tarantino’s scene weaponised this interpretation.
While the rest of Sleep with Me is, at best, a solid diversion that could be recommended to fans of US 1990s independent cinema, the scene itself can—and as many who have edited it on YouTube have shown—work on its own. Most of the audience would do better if they watched those clips rather than this film in its entirety.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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