Sleepwalking
Overture Films | Release Date: March 14, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
16
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Despite its deficiencies, and the inadequate screen time allotted to Theron (who's quite good), Sleepwalking has a core of feeling. It's about a do-gooder who, lacking all skills for it, does good anyway. His emotional odyssey has real poignancy. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Stanford's script is painfully obvious, right down to the line of dialogue spelling out the title's significance. Read full review
50
Film ThreatZack Haddad
It’s a shame that this film’s star-studded cast wasn’t able to save the mediocre storyline. Read full review
50
VarietyRonnie Scheib
The overly simplistic script by Zac Stanford (“The Chumscrubber”) hits nothing but high notes, making the whole dramatically less than the sum of its parts. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Well-intentioned to a fault, Sleepwalking blurs the line between dramatizing free-floating misery and spreading it. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Portentous and dull, the film features one of the worst over-the-top performances by Dennis Hopper, who plays an abusive father. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The movie seems unusually honest in portraying the no-option existence of the working poor, but the story slips into melodrama in the last reel. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The whole picture plays like a pop-up book in a welfare agency. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Schickel
It's because of AnnaSophia Robb's performance...I don't think you'll see a more fascinating and nuanced performance at the movies this year. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
But the regularly overlooked Stahl burrows honestly into this unpleasant place, adding another worthy portrait to his indie gallery of interesting losers. He's still an actor worth keeping your eyes on. Assuming you can keep them open. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Terrific performances and a bleak, riveting look at life on the economic fringes eventually gives way to an overly familiar tale of abuse, denial and catharsis that feels like warmed over Sam Shepard minus the poetry. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The movie seems terrified of true psychological complexity or perversity. It's less a family tragedy than a lousy country dirge. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A feeling of hopelessness pervades Sleepwalking. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Unfortunately, Sleepwalking isn’t content being a character study of damaged adult siblings (if it were, it would have made a nice companion piece to Kenneth Lonergan’s "You Can Count on Me," which is a far less sobering, but far more effective, movie). Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A bummer. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
Even if the movie takes you to some dark places you would rather not visit, at least you will remember the actors who navigate the tortured journey. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As Mr. Maher, in his feature directing debut, brings in surreal touches and puts on literary airs, the film’s grip loosens, and its vernacular turns increasingly wooden. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
There's loads of suffering in Sleepwalking, piled on until the picture almost becomes an unintentional comedy. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Despite honorable work from Theron, Robb and Stahl, Sleepwalking makes good on its title in a not-so-good way. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
Relentlessly depressing. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMichelle Orange
Theron and Woody Harrelson provide vitality against the film's heavy load, but they aren't around long enough to keep it from collapsing under its own portentous weight. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
An inert, sloppily written melodrama as grim and featureless as its frozen Midwestern setting. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A slow-moving family drama guaranteed to induce a nap if not somnambulism. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A soporific dud, which should have been tossed out of Sundance. Read full review
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