great movie ! i liked marc maron appearance

This one was a surprise. While mostly being a comedy, it is able to tie in elements of romance and drama without tipping the scales too far. There are basically two stories going on here, and while they could easily each be their own film, they are able to seamlessly merge. [spoiler]This is the story of Matt, and Abby. They are a typical romcom couple where she has her life together, and he is struggling to make his dream happen. Piece by piece, Matt's dream of a steady comedy career starts to happen - and I like that we actually get to see it blossom. While this is happening - actually, as a result - the relationship between the two begins to sour, and ultimately die. It's a bummer, and there are definitely moments where I did not like Matt, but none of it ever felt untrue. This is just good storytelling. If you can begin a movie as a basic romantic comedy, then have it veer off into a dramedy, and end as a breakup movie, but with a tone that feels like a new beginning and less of a sad ending; well, that's pretty impressive.[/spoiler] Good performances. A big cast - with lots of guess appearances by comedians. A story that isn't predictable. I recommend this to fans of romantic dramedy. Pretty light for the most part, but there are heavy moments.

This is one of those concepts that has the potential to be funny if it embraces the right angles, but instead tries to toe the line between humor and heartbreak without success. It's about a naturally funny guy who dreams of being a stand-up comic, but just isn't any good on the stage. Eventually, in desperation, he starts griping about his stagnant love life during the act and his career picks up steam. Also, he's begun sleepwalking. There's really no connection between those two threads, so they tenuously coexist on lonely parallel paths while the narrator lays it out for us. Although it's loaded up with cameos from a fistful of familiar comedians, there's a surprising lack of laughs and the sappy, played-out relationship drama doesn't pick up any of that slack. Even the sleepwalking scenes aren't all that entertaining.

Somewhat amusingly it turns out I saw this in 2013 and wrote a whole review on Letterboxd. I have no recollection of it whatsoever. Back then I said: >Everything I tend to dislike, is in this film. The ‘quirky’ narration, the ‘real’ guy with issues and his girlfriend who appears to have none, cameos… you name the indie trope, and it’s here. >That said, I sort of got sucked right into this and enjoyed myself. This is a hate-able film, but I’m not in that camp. I liked it. >The narration sucks though, and to me feels like a lack of faith in the source material. This film could be good enough to talk to the audience without having to literally have Birbiglia look into the camera and speak to the viewer, but they chose the easy option. We don’t learn anything about Matt as a person through these parts, it’s just an opportunity to get some jokes in, in case the film has stopped being interesting at any point. >The girlfriend seems likeable but they don’t develop her at all as a character. Sure, she says things and does things, but it’s all bland and pedestrian. Compare this to Matt, now Matt, there’s a guy with problems and bad dreams and a career and insecurities, and loads of other stuff. She’s boring and is just a thing he has to deal with. >At one point Matt says that people think the best part of his life is his girlfriend. Well, it works the the [sic] other way - the only thing his girlfriend seems to have is her job, and him. >The more I think about this the less stars I’m giving it, but ultimately I had a good time. It made me laugh, and it made me think. I don’t think I’ll remember it next week though. The final line is somewhat ironic. This time round I must say I had more of an allergic reaction to it. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times but the self-indulgent rambling tone pissed me right off. Forget what 2013 Ben said, avoid avoid avoid. http://benoliver999.com/film/2017/07/22/sleepwalkwithme/

The audio of this "story" is on Spotify and it's so much greater than how this movie carried it.