"I'm going to tell you a story, and it's true... I always have to tell people that." So asserts comedian-turned-playwright-turned-filmmaker Mike Birbiglia directly to the viewer at the outset of his autobiographically inspired, fictional feature debut. Birbiglia wears his incisive wit on his sleeve while portraying a cinematic surrogate. We are thrust into the tale of a burgeoning stand-up comedian struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore. Based on the successful one-man show, Sleepwalk With Me engages in the kind of passionate and personal storytelling that transfigures intimate anguish into comic art. Produced and co-written by Ira Glass (NPR's This American Life), Sleepwalk With Me features a stellar supporting cast that includes Lauren Ambrose ("Six Feet Under"), Carol Kane ("Taxi"), James Rebhorn ("Meet the Parents"), Cristin Milioti ("30 Rock"), and a sampling from the who's who of today's stand-up scene.
- Director: Mike Birbiglia, Seth Barrish
- Country: USA
- Genre: Drama | Comedy
- Year: 2012
- Run Time: 01:20:48
- imdb Score: 7.3/10 (911 votes)
- Language: English
- Rating: Not Rated
- Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose and Kevin Barnett
Ann Hornaday - WASHINGTON POST
"I like this movie. More important, I like Mike Birbiglia in it. Whether he has a future in stand-up I cannot say, but he has a future as a monologist and actor."
Roger Ebert - CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"One of the great pleasures of the film is watching a comic find his voice -- the stony silences giving way to genuine laughter when Birbiglia finds the right line."
Betsy Sharkey - LOS ANGELES TIMES
Sundance Film Festival 2012
Audience Award
Nantucket Film Festival 2012
Best Director, Best Screenwriter
Provincetown Int'l Film Festival 2012
BAM CinemaFest 2012