Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Angus Just one meaningless, inscrutable scene after another. I was quite confident that it would all come together in the end, which is why I was looking forward to its conclusion. There are several ways to interpret everything that was seen (almost none of which may have actually happened) but I wasn't able to come up with anything harmonious. So my consternation spiked when all I saw was a dark hole, and the credits rolled.The main character has a lot of episodes which are clearly delusions, but then there are many rational-looking scenes some of which are contradicted by other rational-looking scenes.Anyone who likes this movie cannot care one toss about the plot, since in the end, the only thing we can be sure of is that Jeff Daniels thinks therefore he is.

ElijahCSkuggs After seeing a freaky avatar of a gigantic slimy lookin baby over-flowing a bathtub I realized, almost immediately, that I needed to see this flick. And not too long after realizing I needed to see this film I got off my bumbum and did what I had to do to see it. And I'm very glad I did.The story revolves around Jeff Daniels character realizing that his wife hasn't come home from work. He begins to worry and calls the police. From this moment, you begin to realize Jeff's character is severely withdrawn from sleep. He's struggling to remember what time of day it is, and he believes he is sleeping but for only moments at a time. It's a mish-mash effect that works pretty damn well. The sleep-depraved Daniels is trying to juggle the disappearance of his wife, the interaction with his daily life and the inability to count sheep, and it's beginning to take a toll.Chasing Sleep is an underrated gem of a flick. It's a slow-burn flick, but it's also very interesting and has amazing direction, music and camera-work. My only problem was that the script, and the delivery of the lines, felt too rushed. Conversations would fly by with not enough hesitation. Even with this minor fault, the acting still held up and the writing was still strong enough to keep you feeling this was a realistic situation. Nevertheless, Chasing Sleep was a very nice surprise and that baby lived up to all it's weird-ass glory. Check it out if you get the chance.

subzerobob This is yet another movie that I picked up from the .99c store. It is good, but it is not up to the level of movies such as "What Lies Beneath" even though it is in the same genre - psychological thriller. In its defense, I would say that I would much rather watch "Chasing Sleep" than "What Lies Beneath." (I have a problem with "major release" films that are specifically targeted towards broad audiences, done through immense advertising and artificially created hypes - only to capitalize on the week minds and weekend box office sales). But I guess one of the best movies, in this genre, that is superior to all of the ones mentioned above, and the one that I would enjoy watching the most, will be "Secret Window." But going back to commenting on "Chasing Sleep." It should be noted that there is a border line of making movies inexpensively, and dirt cheap. And this movie almost crossed it. It shouldn't really cost that much since it is stationed only on a couple of locations. But maybe paying off the actors significantly decremented the balance sheets. I guess what I am trying to say is that there should have been a little bit more money spend on locations and perhaps trying to show some of the action in other means - much like it is done in "Secret Window - where we see the character talking to himself, or to the air, etc. There are a few known names in this movie. However, there is only one actor that is great in this movie and that is Jeff Daniels, everyone else gives mediocre performances. The director has done a fine job with what it is. Particularly there are several very interesting techniques, which he used to build the psychological profile or maybe even the schizophrenic atmosphere. As a matter of fact those techniques are so well done and used, that they could easily end up in movie books. However, at the end of day, I can still see him saying "it is what it is," and retire to bed with a glass of whiskey. The plot is tough, just as you would expect. Just don't get high, thinking it is the only way you could understand it. Or maybe this genre targets that specific purpose? Just like X rated movies target… you know what… I don't think we are supposed to understand it, otherwise we would know everything about the conscious and there will be no more crazy people. Then everything will become boring. In the mean time - if you are bored, pick this up for a little mind puzzle. Don't worry - the IMDb message boards have plenty of discussion boards that will help you to form you own opinion about what happened. And that is - without the worthless need to use drugs. The moral of the story is - stay drug free! And for that (and for the amazing camera/sound techniques) I give it 6 out of 10.

Ténèbre Rarum (Dario_the_2nd) "Chasing Sleep" is from the first minute it rolls over your screen a perfect and decent psychological thriller. We have an amazing and excellent acting "Jeff Daniels" as the leading role. A little unconventional role for his being but surprisingly enough it suits him perfect. The movie like I already wrote starts from the first second on when you hit the play button as a damn good quality thriller! While the movie takes off and creates minute by minute a perfect dark story it will take you at the same time on a ride onto that downwards spiral of loosing every inch of sanity a human being can possess. Also we have pretty weird scenes into the film such as the oversize baby in the bathtub, blood running out of tabs and toilets as very strange water stains on walls and ceilings. The plot line is based on the mysterious disappearance of his wife, what happened with her? This is the whole intention of the movie, the complete 89min of running time; "What happened to my wife?" Not only this question will pop up but so many more questions will arrive! And then we have the promised minute, the 90th minute of the running time and you're waiting for those answers, as for the biggest one of them all, "What happened too the wife?"And you wait and,and wait,and wait,and wait,…end credits pop onto your screen!If not for such a big disappointment of an ending. Which is so mysterious and open that even the "Bermuda Triangle" would disappear in it, I would have giving it an 8 outa of 10. But this overall serious bummer of an open ending sucks so big time I bombarded the movie without any shame to a 1 outa 10. Did I miss something in the movie; do I need to give it a second view? Well I think I'm not able because I was so disappointed the first time. Can anybody maybe help me out? What did I miss, if I did miss something in the first place!Dario/