"The Sleepy Time Gal" is one weary tale. The tapestry of one overbearing woman's lifetime of regrets, this Sundance Dramatic Competition entrant is graced with top performances from Jacqueline Bisset as the titular character as well as Martha Plimpton and Seymour Cassel. Based on the well-assembled cast, it could win some initial art house notice, but it is likely to go to sleep fast at the boxoffice based on unenthusiastic word-of-mouth. With its midlife subject matter, "Gal" might win the womenfolk who turn on to the Lifetime network.
Written and directed by Christopher Munch, whose edgy portrait of the relationship between John Lennon and Brian Epstein was a pleasant surprise here 10 years ago, "Sleepy Time Gal" also charts relationships that are fraught with pain and misunderstanding but are joys that are also braced with genuine love and need for the other.
In this sleepy/weepy, the title character has learned she has cancer. Age 52 when diagnosed, Frances (Bisset) methodically begins to take stock of her life. Given her rather dour midlife outlook and an obsessive disposition, Frances focuses on areas that are in need of mending. She leaves her beloved San Francisco and treks out to visit a former lover in Pennsylvania (Cassel), rekindling their affection for each other while, somewhat amazingly, befriending his long-term wife as well. While back East, Frances barges in on her son, a struggling and talented photographer. With the best of intentions, she tries to share her wisdom and artistic experiences with him. Characteristically, she spends much of their time together lecturing him: On and on, she bombards him with her opinions on photography, social issues and historical minutiae. Frances is a walking crash course on everything, with strong reliance on the crashing-bore syllabus.
While filmmaker Munch probes and intersects these lives with a clinical dexterity, he loses all balance on the film's most important connection: Frances and the daughter she gave up for adoption. Cross-cutting to the corporate-lawyer, fast-track world of Frances' discarded daughter, Rebecca (Plimpton), Munch hurtles "Sleepy Time Gal" into a more complicated -- and far less credible -- personal story orbit. In this out-there trajectory, he completely glosses over Frances' reasons for giving up the girl in the first place.
Almost out of the blue, we are thrust into Rebecca's yuppie world, following her on a case with one of her odious, media-giant clients to Florida, where the game plan is to swallow up a local radio station. Not as icy as her litigious peers, Rebecca quickly becomes enamored of the little airwave, especially its charismatic general manager (Frankie R. Faison). Alas, we figure out what Rebecca is actually doing in this story: She's the daughter of a onetime station personality, "The Sleepy Time Gal", who used to titillate and regale late-night listeners. Not surprisingly, the nocturnal star also did other things well in the dark: She had an affair with the station's cuddly-bear manager. Ipso-presto, our young lawyer hops in the sack also with the veteran manager. Like mother, like daughter -- "of all the radio joints in the world" -- you get the idea. This mother/daughter connection through a common lover is so forced, far-fetched and preposterous that this billowy subplot tends to diminish every other personal connection in the film.
Despite the forced narrative and a general loss of interest in Frances once we get to know her better, "Sleepy Time Gal" plumbs some solid midlife probl ems and addresses them in a generally entertaining fashion. It's a credit to Bisset's winsome appeal that we even come to care much for the stricken Frances, even aided and abetted by Munch's overtly melodramatic helpings. Still, Munch's filmmaking talent is evident in "Sleepy Time Gal"'s meticulous, credible look. The film's perceptive personal shadings are well-realized technically, particularly by the work of a trio of art directors (Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge) who smartly convey the inner thoughts and fear of the characters through their possessions and personal artwork.
THE SLEEPY TIME GAL
A film by Christopher Munch
Producers: Christopher Munch, Ruth Charay
Screenwriter-director: Christopher Munch
Co-producers: Jim McKay, Michael Stipe
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Art directors: Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge
Editors: : Annette Davey, Christopher Munch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frances: Jacqueline Bisset
Morgan: Nick Stahl
Maggie: Amy Madigan
Rebecca: Martha Plimpton
Jimmy Dupree: Frankie R. Faison
Bob: Seymour Cassel
Betty: Peggy Gormley
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Written and directed by Christopher Munch, whose edgy portrait of the relationship between John Lennon and Brian Epstein was a pleasant surprise here 10 years ago, "Sleepy Time Gal" also charts relationships that are fraught with pain and misunderstanding but are joys that are also braced with genuine love and need for the other.
In this sleepy/weepy, the title character has learned she has cancer. Age 52 when diagnosed, Frances (Bisset) methodically begins to take stock of her life. Given her rather dour midlife outlook and an obsessive disposition, Frances focuses on areas that are in need of mending. She leaves her beloved San Francisco and treks out to visit a former lover in Pennsylvania (Cassel), rekindling their affection for each other while, somewhat amazingly, befriending his long-term wife as well. While back East, Frances barges in on her son, a struggling and talented photographer. With the best of intentions, she tries to share her wisdom and artistic experiences with him. Characteristically, she spends much of their time together lecturing him: On and on, she bombards him with her opinions on photography, social issues and historical minutiae. Frances is a walking crash course on everything, with strong reliance on the crashing-bore syllabus.
While filmmaker Munch probes and intersects these lives with a clinical dexterity, he loses all balance on the film's most important connection: Frances and the daughter she gave up for adoption. Cross-cutting to the corporate-lawyer, fast-track world of Frances' discarded daughter, Rebecca (Plimpton), Munch hurtles "Sleepy Time Gal" into a more complicated -- and far less credible -- personal story orbit. In this out-there trajectory, he completely glosses over Frances' reasons for giving up the girl in the first place.
Almost out of the blue, we are thrust into Rebecca's yuppie world, following her on a case with one of her odious, media-giant clients to Florida, where the game plan is to swallow up a local radio station. Not as icy as her litigious peers, Rebecca quickly becomes enamored of the little airwave, especially its charismatic general manager (Frankie R. Faison). Alas, we figure out what Rebecca is actually doing in this story: She's the daughter of a onetime station personality, "The Sleepy Time Gal", who used to titillate and regale late-night listeners. Not surprisingly, the nocturnal star also did other things well in the dark: She had an affair with the station's cuddly-bear manager. Ipso-presto, our young lawyer hops in the sack also with the veteran manager. Like mother, like daughter -- "of all the radio joints in the world" -- you get the idea. This mother/daughter connection through a common lover is so forced, far-fetched and preposterous that this billowy subplot tends to diminish every other personal connection in the film.
Despite the forced narrative and a general loss of interest in Frances once we get to know her better, "Sleepy Time Gal" plumbs some solid midlife probl ems and addresses them in a generally entertaining fashion. It's a credit to Bisset's winsome appeal that we even come to care much for the stricken Frances, even aided and abetted by Munch's overtly melodramatic helpings. Still, Munch's filmmaking talent is evident in "Sleepy Time Gal"'s meticulous, credible look. The film's perceptive personal shadings are well-realized technically, particularly by the work of a trio of art directors (Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge) who smartly convey the inner thoughts and fear of the characters through their possessions and personal artwork.
THE SLEEPY TIME GAL
A film by Christopher Munch
Producers: Christopher Munch, Ruth Charay
Screenwriter-director: Christopher Munch
Co-producers: Jim McKay, Michael Stipe
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Art directors: Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge
Editors: : Annette Davey, Christopher Munch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frances: Jacqueline Bisset
Morgan: Nick Stahl
Maggie: Amy Madigan
Rebecca: Martha Plimpton
Jimmy Dupree: Frankie R. Faison
Bob: Seymour Cassel
Betty: Peggy Gormley
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"The Sleepy Time Gal" is one weary tale. The tapestry of one overbearing woman's lifetime of regrets, this Sundance Dramatic Competition entrant is graced with top performances from Jacqueline Bisset as the titular character as well as Martha Plimpton and Seymour Cassel. Based on the well-assembled cast, it could win some initial art house notice, but it is likely to go to sleep fast at the boxoffice based on unenthusiastic word-of-mouth. With its midlife subject matter, "Gal" might win the womenfolk who turn on to the Lifetime network.
Written and directed by Christopher Munch, whose edgy portrait of the relationship between John Lennon and Brian Epstein was a pleasant surprise here 10 years ago, "Sleepy Time Gal" also charts relationships that are fraught with pain and misunderstanding but are joys that are also braced with genuine love and need for the other.
In this sleepy/weepy, the title character has learned she has cancer. Age 52 when diagnosed, Frances (Bisset) methodically begins to take stock of her life. Given her rather dour midlife outlook and an obsessive disposition, Frances focuses on areas that are in need of mending. She leaves her beloved San Francisco and treks out to visit a former lover in Pennsylvania (Cassel), rekindling their affection for each other while, somewhat amazingly, befriending his long-term wife as well. While back East, Frances barges in on her son, a struggling and talented photographer. With the best of intentions, she tries to share her wisdom and artistic experiences with him. Characteristically, she spends much of their time together lecturing him: On and on, she bombards him with her opinions on photography, social issues and historical minutiae. Frances is a walking crash course on everything, with strong reliance on the crashing-bore syllabus.
While filmmaker Munch probes and intersects these lives with a clinical dexterity, he loses all balance on the film's most important connection: Frances and the daughter she gave up for adoption. Cross-cutting to the corporate-lawyer, fast-track world of Frances' discarded daughter, Rebecca (Plimpton), Munch hurtles "Sleepy Time Gal" into a more complicated -- and far less credible -- personal story orbit. In this out-there trajectory, he completely glosses over Frances' reasons for giving up the girl in the first place.
Almost out of the blue, we are thrust into Rebecca's yuppie world, following her on a case with one of her odious, media-giant clients to Florida, where the game plan is to swallow up a local radio station. Not as icy as her litigious peers, Rebecca quickly becomes enamored of the little airwave, especially its charismatic general manager (Frankie R. Faison). Alas, we figure out what Rebecca is actually doing in this story: She's the daughter of a onetime station personality, "The Sleepy Time Gal", who used to titillate and regale late-night listeners. Not surprisingly, the nocturnal star also did other things well in the dark: She had an affair with the station's cuddly-bear manager. Ipso-presto, our young lawyer hops in the sack also with the veteran manager. Like mother, like daughter -- "of all the radio joints in the world" -- you get the idea. This mother/daughter connection through a common lover is so forced, far-fetched and preposterous that this billowy subplot tends to diminish every other personal connection in the film.
Despite the forced narrative and a general loss of interest in Frances once we get to know her better, "Sleepy Time Gal" plumbs some solid midlife probl ems and addresses them in a generally entertaining fashion. It's a credit to Bisset's winsome appeal that we even come to care much for the stricken Frances, even aided and abetted by Munch's overtly melodramatic helpings. Still, Munch's filmmaking talent is evident in "Sleepy Time Gal"'s meticulous, credible look. The film's perceptive personal shadings are well-realized technically, particularly by the work of a trio of art directors (Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge) who smartly convey the inner thoughts and fear of the characters through their possessions and personal artwork.
THE SLEEPY TIME GAL
A film by Christopher Munch
Producers: Christopher Munch, Ruth Charay
Screenwriter-director: Christopher Munch
Co-producers: Jim McKay, Michael Stipe
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Art directors: Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge
Editors: : Annette Davey, Christopher Munch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frances: Jacqueline Bisset
Morgan: Nick Stahl
Maggie: Amy Madigan
Rebecca: Martha Plimpton
Jimmy Dupree: Frankie R. Faison
Bob: Seymour Cassel
Betty: Peggy Gormley
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Written and directed by Christopher Munch, whose edgy portrait of the relationship between John Lennon and Brian Epstein was a pleasant surprise here 10 years ago, "Sleepy Time Gal" also charts relationships that are fraught with pain and misunderstanding but are joys that are also braced with genuine love and need for the other.
In this sleepy/weepy, the title character has learned she has cancer. Age 52 when diagnosed, Frances (Bisset) methodically begins to take stock of her life. Given her rather dour midlife outlook and an obsessive disposition, Frances focuses on areas that are in need of mending. She leaves her beloved San Francisco and treks out to visit a former lover in Pennsylvania (Cassel), rekindling their affection for each other while, somewhat amazingly, befriending his long-term wife as well. While back East, Frances barges in on her son, a struggling and talented photographer. With the best of intentions, she tries to share her wisdom and artistic experiences with him. Characteristically, she spends much of their time together lecturing him: On and on, she bombards him with her opinions on photography, social issues and historical minutiae. Frances is a walking crash course on everything, with strong reliance on the crashing-bore syllabus.
While filmmaker Munch probes and intersects these lives with a clinical dexterity, he loses all balance on the film's most important connection: Frances and the daughter she gave up for adoption. Cross-cutting to the corporate-lawyer, fast-track world of Frances' discarded daughter, Rebecca (Plimpton), Munch hurtles "Sleepy Time Gal" into a more complicated -- and far less credible -- personal story orbit. In this out-there trajectory, he completely glosses over Frances' reasons for giving up the girl in the first place.
Almost out of the blue, we are thrust into Rebecca's yuppie world, following her on a case with one of her odious, media-giant clients to Florida, where the game plan is to swallow up a local radio station. Not as icy as her litigious peers, Rebecca quickly becomes enamored of the little airwave, especially its charismatic general manager (Frankie R. Faison). Alas, we figure out what Rebecca is actually doing in this story: She's the daughter of a onetime station personality, "The Sleepy Time Gal", who used to titillate and regale late-night listeners. Not surprisingly, the nocturnal star also did other things well in the dark: She had an affair with the station's cuddly-bear manager. Ipso-presto, our young lawyer hops in the sack also with the veteran manager. Like mother, like daughter -- "of all the radio joints in the world" -- you get the idea. This mother/daughter connection through a common lover is so forced, far-fetched and preposterous that this billowy subplot tends to diminish every other personal connection in the film.
Despite the forced narrative and a general loss of interest in Frances once we get to know her better, "Sleepy Time Gal" plumbs some solid midlife probl ems and addresses them in a generally entertaining fashion. It's a credit to Bisset's winsome appeal that we even come to care much for the stricken Frances, even aided and abetted by Munch's overtly melodramatic helpings. Still, Munch's filmmaking talent is evident in "Sleepy Time Gal"'s meticulous, credible look. The film's perceptive personal shadings are well-realized technically, particularly by the work of a trio of art directors (Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge) who smartly convey the inner thoughts and fear of the characters through their possessions and personal artwork.
THE SLEEPY TIME GAL
A film by Christopher Munch
Producers: Christopher Munch, Ruth Charay
Screenwriter-director: Christopher Munch
Co-producers: Jim McKay, Michael Stipe
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Art directors: Melissa Frankei, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge
Editors: : Annette Davey, Christopher Munch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frances: Jacqueline Bisset
Morgan: Nick Stahl
Maggie: Amy Madigan
Rebecca: Martha Plimpton
Jimmy Dupree: Frankie R. Faison
Bob: Seymour Cassel
Betty: Peggy Gormley
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/15/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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