John LeTour (Willem Dafoe) is loyal, decent, lumbering--a 40-year-old drug runner who suffers from insomnia but seems to be sleep-walking through life in LIGHT SLEEPER. When John's boss, the bubbly but sharp-witted Ann (Susan Sarandon), decides to retire, John must rethinks his life's path. But breaking out of the life he's led will take some doing, especially after coming into contact with his ex-girlfriend (Dana Delany), a recovering drug addict, and becoming embroiled in a mysterious murder. This gently haunting drama is all the more interesting because of the wonderful performances of the actors, the film's steady, relaxed pace, and the careful way all the colors of each character are drawn out.
A middle-aged drug dealer, coming to terms with the mess he's made of his life, struggles to get out of the business. But old habits die hard, as he still has a few debts to pay before he can be free.
LIGHT SLEEPER was screened at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival.
Director Paul Schrader returns to his roots--style-wise--with this story that covers similar ground as TAXI DRIVER, for which he wrote the award-winning screenplay.
Excerpt: "What do you see? Has my luck run out?"--John (Willem Dafoe)
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Production Designer
Richard Hornung:
Director of Photography
Ed Lachman: Director of Photography
Review 1:
"...The clean, hard-edged compositions and fluid camera movements have a precision and spontaneity..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.54-5 04/01/1992
Review 2:
"...A boldly resonant thriller....Buoyed by [Schrader's] questing spirit and Dafoe's mesmerizing performance, LIGHT SLEEPER might just keep you up for nights..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.102-104 03/19/1992
Review 3:
"...LIGHT SLEEPER is a lithe, lovely existential thriller..."
Source: Film Comment
p.68-71 05/01/1992
Review 4:
"...Brooding, lonely....Paul Schraderhas been telling this story in one way or another, but never with more humanity than this time..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.41 09/04/1992
Review 5:
4 stars out of 5 -- "Paul Schrader's familiar preoccupations -- religion; male insecurity; the seamier side of modern life; glistening, moody filmmaking -- are lovingly coaxed out of this, his most underrated film."
Source: Empire
03/01/2009
Shopping Cart:
