Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk With Me was one of the undisputed highlights of this year's Sundance Film Festival, a romantic comedy based on Birbiglia's own stand-up/storytelling act that also marked the comedian's screenwriting and directing debut. It was a lot to take on all at once, but Birbiglia pretty much nailed it, combining traditional filmmaking with a talking-to-the-camera conversational style that made Sleepwalk both a satisfying, uncommon rom-com and a little bit of an experiment on how to update the genre.
For more on Sleepwalk's Sundance debut you can watch the video blog I recorded there, and for more on the upcoming theatrical release, check out the new poster that just debuted, with a tagline-- "A comedy for anyone who's ever had a dream. And then jumped out a window." -- that ought to tell you a lot about the uncommon story that's in store.
The film recounts what might at first seem like two very different stories in Birbiglia's life-- his failure to commit to a long-term relationship with his girlfriend (Lauren Ambrose), and his sleepwalking disorder that eventually led him, yes, to jump out a window. Birbiglia previously performed Sleepwalk With Me as a one-man show in New York, and the poster for that show also featured him in kiddie pajamas-- I guess, somehow, he knows that works.
Sleepwalk With Me comes to theaters on August 24. You owe yourself the chance to see it.
