Gordon-11 This film is about a upscale drug dealer, who goes through a series of unfortunate events involving his job and romantic life.I don't get this film at all. The pace is so slow that it takes a long time for anything to happen. If anything happens, that is. As a crime drama, "Light Sleeper" is full of talking and has no action. The film tries hard to be atmospheric, portraying John LeTour's lost soul. Such introspective and internal soul searching is not easy to portray, and if it is done well, the film would have been touching. However, such portrayal woefully inadequate and ineffective. I cannot get into the heart and mind of any of the characters. I find "Light Sleeper" is a boring mess.

IForgotMyMantra Typically seedy Schrader movie but worth sticking through. The plot is standard fare (dealer/addict wanting to go clean) and the beginning portion is rather grim but it all gets going soon enough. The noir atmosphere is effective and useful in reflecting the state of mind of the characters. Once the mystery starts, the plot engages although the mystery isn't as suspenseful or as clear as it could be. Still, Dafoe's strong performance as well as Sarandon's carry things along nicely. In spite of the lack of mystery, there's still some genuine intrigue (who will betray him?) in the plot as well as that potent mood make this one of Schrader's best.

kelp30 I attended a screening of "Light Sleeper," where Paul Schrader, after the screening, stood up and said something to the tune of, "Wow. No wonder that movie didn't do well at the box office." When I think about other Schrader movies, I can appreciate the thought, but movies he's written or directed (see "Last Temptation," "Light of Day," et cetera), one can't help but notice the similarities... It seems Paul can't get past his mid-western, Christian Reformed upbringing. Instead of getting a little therapy to deal with whatever ghosts or saints or demons lay waste in his psyche, he's working it out on film... And somehow, I'm getting charged for it.OK. I will admit, Light Sleeper has great performances by Delaney, Dafoe, and Sarandon.... but if I had their character's lives, I couldn't sleep either.Five cents, Please.

tedg Hollow ManSpoilers herein.I particularly enjoy movies that are part of a series. That way, the context is even sharper than the usual genre and societal factors that come into play. Context is what movies are all about, and most particularly Schrader-written movies.In this case we have three films (`Taxi,` this, `Dead') about night prowlers in a corrupting city, all written by Schrader. Two have been directed by Scorsese and one by Schrader himself. Scorsese is by far the more competent director, but I like Schrader's approach better.Scorsese selects actors that are full of energy and encouraged to radiate. They become prime movers in the universe we see. The camera is attached to them, in `Taxi Driver' quite literally. As these guys move through the world, the energy of the world feeds back. This fullness of energy and exchange drives Scorsese projects. Cage in `Bring out the Dead.'That's despite the fact that what Schrader had in mind was something different. In every one of his scripts he creates a world that moves on its own and pulls energy out of his hapless hero (always a man, except when he tried it with his lover).The correct type of actor for this is one that can create negative energy, someone who visibly sucks life from outside forces. Scorsese cannot do this, but he came close with Dafoe in `Temptation.'The final scenes in `Temptation' are informed by Michelangelo's Pieta, an amazing statue of the slain Christ in Mary's lap. She is alive - all the forms of her face and body are constructed in such a way to contain her. Jesus on the other hand is more than simply desiccated. Every form in his being comes not from what is contained within, but what has been taken by the environment. He is defined by negative form. Not quite scallops and scoops, but their more subtle and devilish cousins.Dafoe pulled this off in spite of Scorsese's meddling. Schrader was there in Morroco and saw this, so commandeered Dafoe for this project. Here, Dafoe sucks energy from what surrounds him. His character doesn't understand why he is so jinxed, but he is. A locomotive of removal, a hollow man hollowing out the space around him.Sarandon is merely furniture, and does the job adequately. Her role is to give an excuse for talk about karma and akashic records. Delany needs be no more than one of the hapless lives caught in the vacuum.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.