Holden Caine It's indie, depressing, dark, psychological, slow-paced, disturbing, dramatic, completely unheard of, a couple years old, and hated by almost everybody else... basically, it's right up my alley. Sleepwalking tells the story of a struggling single mother (Charlize Theron) who has had various misguided relationships with abusive, thuggish boyfriends, and her brother James (Nick Stahl)'s relationship with her troubled and cumbersome daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb). As stated previously, the film is slow-paced. It moves from one gloomy set-piece to another, each full of people wearing frowns and woolly hats. It only takes the scene when Tara comes home from school and frustrates her mother to breaking point for the viewer to realise how messed up the life of this family is. We then see Theron's character enjoy a few moments in the spotlight as per usual with her latest boyfriend Randall (Woody Harrelson) but, in fairness, nobody cares. If I wanted to watch a troubled and dysfunctional middle-aged woman battle her way through a string of moronic partners, I'd watch Coronation Street, or Sex and the City, or something. What is far more interesting is the relationship between James and Tara, as the latter becomes more and more detached from her mother and the former loses his job. Tara is placed in a foster home and hates it, at which point they decide to go on the run on limited budget. The couple share many scenes together, and, although their conversations are inconclusive for the most part, the chemistry between the pair is enough to be engaging. What follows is a myriad of long distance shots of the couple on the road, accompanied by various depressing pieces of music, after which the pair decide to change their names and up sticks to James' childhood home, an old ranch which reeks of sadness, abuse and repressed anger from the moment we see it. It is at this point that the film really kicks off. James is at first greeted with relative calm by his redneck thug of a father (Dennis Hopper) but as James and Tara are forced into hard labour of increasing difficulty (coiling a rope, for example - Dennis, how could you expect for a 12-year old misfit living in a suburban environment to be able to coil a rope perfectly right off the box?) we begin to see that he is in fact an abusive, violent and rage-filled character, epitomised by his horrific treatment of his son and of a young girl he has never met, and soon what was meant to be a 'vacation' becomes hell on earth. And then there's the roller-coaster ride that is the final barn scene- child abuse, a sudden release of anger and a somewhat predictable yet still powerful and hard-hitting climax make this an incredibly hot-to-handle piece of cinema, to put it mildly.Sleepwalking is a film made far stronger by two brilliant performances- Nick Stahl as James, and AnnaSophia Robb as Tara. Stahl is excellent as James, a hard-done by, cowardly (initially) yet pleasant man who only wants the best for himself and his niece. The conversations between Stahl and Robb are convincing despite an iffy script, and Stahl's James is a modest and likable character, his brutal actions at the end of the film perhaps notwithstanding. I've been seeing a lot of Ms Robb lately courtesy of my younger brother's infatuation with her, and, having been through most of her films, I can say with confidence that this, on par with Bridge To Terabithia, is Robb's best performance. If they give Oscars to child actresses, she'd batter have won one for this. She acts with astounding maturity in what is quite a tricky role to play- she must be bratty yet likable, which most would agree is not a personality match made in heaven. However, she more than succeeds in this task - she is very sweet, seems comfortable and manages to act far beyond her years, making even Hollywood A-lister Theron look sub-par. Robb has emerged as to some extent the indie Dakota Fanning, and in my book has far surpassed Dakota's range with some of the projects she has done. The duo completely steal the spotlight in this film, and light it up in spite of its script and slow pace. Moving on, we have a good performance from Hopper as the deliberately despicable father, a relatively good performance from Theron and some very telling shots of the countryside that help set the scene for what is a gloomy and gritty coming-of-age film about the struggles of life. If you're looking for a good time... don't watch this, by any means. If you're looking for a fine piece of indie cinema and fancy some drama, give it a go. 8/10.

Ashley_The_Little_Rogue The director could not have picked better actors for this film than Nick Stahl and AnnaSophia Robb. Every movie that I have seen AnnaSophia act in, she has taken her role seriously, with the fullest extent of her acting ability, and to heart.Nick plays the uncle, James, and AnnaSophia plays James' niece, Tara. The two are locked in position with their own dark pasts (Tara dealing with her mother's sudden disappearance after her mother had been unable to look after her due to her lifestyle, and James being the dark memories of his abusive father with him and his sister Joleen *Tara's Mother*).Now, I am not going to get into detail on everything the movie is about, because I honestly think you really should see the film if you haven't already, and I am not going to spoil it. However, the movie takes you to the dark place (Dennis Hopper plays a dark, twisted, and excellent Role as the Father of James and Joleen). It takes you through the emotions of hitting rock bottom, a child's world upside down in the eyes of a 12 year old, a mother's struggle to hold on, and with no other alternative, a return trip to the farm of evil.10/10 P.S.: When about to watch this film, remember the words of AnnaSophia Robb herself - "You've got to keep your mind wide open."

Roland E. Zwick "Sleepwalking" starts off a bit like "Frozen River," focused on a single mother struggling to make ends meet in rural America (though it was actually filmed in Saskatchewan). But the movie quickly veers off in another direction, shifting that focus onto her 13-year-old daughter, Tara, and her younger brother, James (the girl's uncle), who are suddenly forced to rely on one another for comfort and support when Joleen temporarily bows out of the picture.When her boyfriend is arrested for growing marijuana, Jolene (Carlize Theron) and Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) are forced to move in with James (Nick Stahl), a soft-spoken, good-hearted fellow in his 20s who is two months behind in his rent and who barely scrapes by on what he makes at his low-paying construction job. Soon, Joleen has split the scene, James has lost his job, and social services has taken Tara to live in a foster-care facility. So James and Tara decide to head out onto the open highway, stopping off at roadside diners and motels, and staying one step ahead of the authorities who are in pursuit of them."Sleepwalking" is one of those gritty, slice-of-life dramas that sympathetically and accurately depicts what life is like for the working poor. It is rife with authentic details and rich in small town atmosphere. Director William Mahr and cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchia really know how to extract the essence of a locale for mood and effect, making the bleak landscape and stark setting integral elements in the drama - an effect greatly enhanced by Christopher Young's rich and evocative acoustic-flavored score. Superb, naturalistic performances by the three lead actors make us truly care about the people they are portraying and the things that are happening to them."Sleepwalking" is not without its flaws, however. For one thing, the movie undercuts some of its carefully crafted verisimilitude with its casting of "name" actors in a few of the key secondary roles - primarily, Woody Harrelson as James' friend and work buddy, and an over-reaching Dennis Hopper as Joleen and James' abusive dad. These parts would have been more effective had they been played by less-familiar actors (though I do realize that, without such star power attached to the project, a movie like "Sleepwalking" might never have gotten made in the first place). More seriously, the otherwise excellent screenplay by Zac Stanford falls apart a bit in the final third, resorting to stereotyping and hokey melodrama when it most needs to stay true to its characters and their situations.Still, despite the patness, "Sleepwalking" is a quietly powerful, richly atmospheric tale of a group of troubled but essentially decent people struggling, despite their all-too-human weaknesses, to make their way in the world.

Lee Eisenberg My interpretation of "Sleepwalking" as extremely depressing may spring from the fact that I knew nothing about it when I started watching it. Charlize Theron plays down-and-out Jolene, who dumps her daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) on her brother James (Nick Stahl) and disappears. James now has to reconsider how he has lived his whole life.The wintry setting in this movie has the same effect as the setting in "Affliction": as bleak as can be...especially after what ends up happening after James and Tara go on the road. Definitely not a film that will leave you feeling good. Not to demean the movie at all; I do recommend it. You just have to understand that this is a VERY depressing one, exactly the sort of movie to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. I don't know whether or not you'll like it, but I still encourage you to at least check it out. Also starring Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson and Mathew St. Patrick (who played Keith on "Six Feet Under"). I assume that director William Maher is not the same as Bill Maher of "Real Time with Bill Maher".