Sleepwalking (2008)

Director:

Bill Maher

Writer:

Zac Stanford (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 May 2008 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The drama follows an 11-year-old girl's struggle to come to terms with her mother's abandonment.

Plot Keywords:

Road Trip | Abandonment | Stash | Childhood | Foster Care

Cast

Nick Stahl	...	James
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Tara
Charlize Theron	...	Joleen
Deborra-Lee Furness	...	Danni
Mathew St. Patrick	...	Detective #1
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Will
Woody Harrelson	...	Randall
Dennis Hopper	...	Mr. Reedy
Ken Mitchell	...	Mr. Bergen
Jean Freeman	...	Mrs. Bergen
Troy Skog	...	Warren
George Grassick	...	Cop #1
Mike Ennis	...	Cop #2
Alexandra Fox	...	Darlene
Lori Ann Kennedy	...	Foster Care Worker (as Lori Kennedy)
Ron Anderson	...	Road Crew Boss (as R. James Anderson)
Emily Wees	...	Tara's Friend
Simon Chin	...	Randall's Friend
Amy Matysio	...	Sharon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shannon Jardine	...	Mom (uncredited)
Peter Scoular	...	Dad (uncredited)

Directed by
Bill Maher		(as William Maher)

Writing credits
Zac Stanford		(screenplay)

Produced by
A.J. Dix	....	producer
J.J. Harris	....	producer
Beth Kono	....	producer
Charlie Mason	....	executive producer
Rob Merilees	....	producer
Justin Moore-Lewy	....	executive producer
Stephen Onda	....	line producer
Anthony Rhulen	....	executive producer
William Shively	....	executive producer
Michael Stirling	....	executive producer
Charlize Theron	....	producer

Original Music by
Christopher Young

Cinematography by
Juan Ruiz Anchía

Film Editing by
Stuart Levy

Casting by
Betia Hovedskov
Brenda McCormick

Production Design by
Paki Smith

Art Direction by
Sara McCudden

Set Decoration by
Sara Longfellow

Costume Design by
Cathy McComb

Makeup Department
Jennifer Forberg	....	assistant makeup artist
Tracy George	....	key makeup artist
Tamara Harrod	....	key hair stylist
Tamara Harrod	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Stephen Onda	....	unit production manager
Scott Watson	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Bitonti	....	assistant director: additional photography
James Bitonti	....	first assistant director
Jim Brebner	....	first assistant director
Jim Brebner	....	second unit director
Michael Pohorly	....	third assistant director
Jacqui Swedberg	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Adrienne Conley	....	graphic designer
Norm Daschle	....	property master
Ross Dempster	....	production designer: reshoots
Alison Grothe	....	on-set dresser
Morgan Hughes	....	key scenic painter
Jefferson Little	....	scenic artist
Audra Neil	....	decorator
Brent Russell	....	art department coordinator
Magdalena Shenher	....	art department coordinator
Adrian Traquair	....	set dresser
Johann Wessels	....	lead scenic artist

Sound Department
Chris Diamond	....	assistant dialogue editor
Chris Duesterdiek	....	sound mixer
Peter Eliuk	....	assistant sound editor
Robert Fernandez	....	score mixer
Amy Giammarco	....	post audio manager
Dean Giammarco	....	sound re-recording mixer
Patrick Haskill	....	sound effects editor
Robert Hunter	....	assistant sound editor
Nick Kray	....	adr recordist
Johnny Ludgate	....	sound effects editor
Christine McLeod	....	dialogue editor
Maureen Murphy	....	foley artist
Rory O'Neill	....	boom operator
Emil Quan	....	assistant sound
Philip Rogers	....	adr recordist
Bill Sheppard	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gordon Sproule	....	foley mixer
Elaine Stef	....	assistant foley walker

Visual Effects by
Austin Basile	....	digital compositor
Landon Bootsma	....	digital compositor: Technicolor
Paul Chapman	....	digital compositor
Steve Elliott	....	visual effects I/O: Technicolor
John Fukushima	....	lead digital compositor
Colleen Jenkinson	....	visual effects producer: Technicolor Creative Services
Ryan Kuba	....	visual effects coordinator: Technicolor Creative Services
Tanya Schuck	....	digital compositor
Gary Shaw	....	digital intermediate colorist
Noel Wright	....	compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Latif Cavanaugh	....	grip
Kirk Chiswell	....	first assistant camera
Mark Dobrescu	....	camera operator
Mark Dobrescu	....	director of photography: second unit
Andrew Gordon	....	gaffer
Daryl Hartwell	....	dolly grip
Kerry Hayes	....	still photographer
Rob Hillstead	....	lighting technician
Kevin Lheritier	....	b dolly grip
Kyle Mrazek	....	lighting technician
Will Parrot	....	key grip
Rob Rowan	....	rigging gaffer
Adrian Merritt Smith	....	camera trainee
Scott Tremblay	....	best boy electric
Scott Tremblay	....	electrician
Scott Trembley	....	best boy
Gordon Weiske	....	epk videographer
Mitchel Wiles	....	still photographer trainee
Nicole Wiwchar	....	second assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robin Merrifield	....	set costumer
Robin Merrifield	....	truck costumer
Joanna Vollhoffer	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Chris Mayo	....	conforming editor: HD
Gary Shaw	....	digital intermediate colorist
Jonny Winograd	....	associate editor

Music Department
Max Blomgren	....	score engineer
Mark Buys	....	score coordinator
Michael Dittrick	....	music editor
Damon Ebner	....	orchestrator
Damon Ebner	....	score coordinator
Kevin J. Edelman	....	music supervisor
Karim Elmahmoudi	....	orchestrator
Karim Elmahmoudi	....	score coordinator
Alan Haskel	....	score coordinator
Sean McMahon	....	orchestrator
Flavio Motalla	....	score producer
Denis Roche	....	additional composer
David G. Russell	....	synthesizer programmer: score

Transportation Department
Sylvain Buteau	....	transportation captain
Sheila Richards	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Holly Baird	....	production coordinator
Jason Bryant	....	stand-in
Alison S. Cohen	....	production counsel
Nigel Crook	....	production accountant
Ken Dhaliwal	....	finance legal
Ian Gardner	....	associate production coordinator
Vandana Jain	....	payroll accountant
Brad Jensen	....	production executive
Michael Klastorin	....	unit publicist
Gabriella Ludlow	....	production legal
Terry Mialkowsky	....	location manager
Michael Orthner	....	production assistant
Amber Ripley	....	assistant: mr. merilees
Stephanie Rossel	....	script supervisor
Marvin V. Scansen	....	chef

Production Companies

• Denver and Delilah Productions
• FilmEngine
• Infinity Features Entertainment
• Icon Entertainment International

Distributors

• Long Shong Entertainment Multimedia Company (2007) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Overture Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Laptv (2009) (Argentina) (TV)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bank of Ireland  production financing provided by
• CNSO Studios  recording studio
• DBC Sound  audio post-production

Also Known As:

Ferris Wheel (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

Company:

Denver and Delilah Productions

Trivia:

The working title for this production was ‘Ferris Wheel’.

Quotes:

Tara: Where are we going?
James: We're going home. Home to your mom.
Tara: [brightens] My mom? Where is she?
James: She's in Westmoreland. Waiting at the police station.
Tara: What's going to happen to you?
James: Can't be any worse than it's been, you know? Before now, it's like I've been living in a dream. A bad dream, just sleepwalking. But you helped me. You woke me up.
Tara: I did?
James: Yeah.
James: [after a pause] Will you do me a favor?
Tara: Yeah, sure.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Blue Velvet (1986)

Strong performances from Nick Stahl, Annasophia Robb and the rest of the cast are barely enough to save 'Sleepwalking' from stumbling in its own plot.

Despite the mostly negative reviews I've read about 'Sleepwalking', I wanted to see if Annasophia Robb really did live up to what the critics have been raving the past couple months. And she does, in a huge way. With a natural presence and believable acting, Annasophia displays one of the best performances I've seen from a child actor/actress. While she did a great job in BTT and Have Dreams, she doesn't show any signs of the occasional stiff acting that she had in her previous films. Playing the part of the abandoned and emotionally troubled Tara is a very complex process that not many young actors can endure, yet Annasophia portrays her every emotion smoothly. Her chemistry with Stahl's character was convincing and heartfelt. At first I was a little bit on the skeptical side on whether or not her performance was Oscar-worthy; but after watching this movie, I immediately brushed said thoughts aside.

That said, this movie is James's (Nick Stahl) story, and he delivers. His performance really brought out the raw emotion that most of the film lacked. At certain scenes one could just sense the extreme pain and sorrow that James is going through as he grows more fond of his niece, only to see her get taken away, that and other aspects of his character makes a nice buildup to his climactic transformation near the end. Charlize Theron, though only present in a handful of scenes in the film, takes full advantage of them and helps create a truly believable troubled American family. Dennis Hopper is, well...Dennis Hopper. He can pull off playing any crazed and sadistic bastard in a snap and succeeds. Despite his character being as one dimensional as one can get, Hopper does a pretty good job making the film more morbid than it already is.

Positives aside, here is where the film gets it's real flaws: the story. Besides extremely powerful performances by the leads, Sleepwalking's story suffers from it's overtly dark tone and predictability. Yes, it's supposed to be a morbid take on abandonment and abuse, but unfortunately that's all there is. The characters stumble from one unlucky bump in the road to another without any real relief for them. Besides the budding almost brother-sister type relationship that James and Tara develops, it doesn't really stop the film from becoming increasingly bleak. And quite honestly, as much as I tried to defend it, I didn't understand James's notion to return to his abusive and bitter father's farm. Once he mentions going there in the film, especially with all the comments that he heard from Tara, predicting hell in Satan's frozen ranch wasn't very far-fetched. I enjoy films that are open to interpretation and don't give out easy answers. However, Sleepwalking's ending hardly even tries to put some sort of resolution. It's an all-throughout morbid storyline that DESERVED a true resolution, sadly it barely had one.

I enjoyed Sleepwalking. I loved the characters and the performances (Especially Robb and Stahl), but like the ratings that you've read throughout the web, it was just barely enough to carry the weight of a bland and predictable story.