The Science of Sleep

Michel Gondry makes a hell of a music video, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was great. Human Nature, not so much, but even though The Science of Sleep didn't necessarily look like my cup of tea, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien) stars as Stephane, a man with a has a vivid imagination and the line between his dreams and reality is blurred more than a little. This provides plenty of opportunity for Gondry to exercise his skill with trippy visuals, with lots of cool stop-motion animation. Plot-wise, it's the usual story... boy meets girl, boy learns how to suspend clouds made of cotton in the air by playing the piano, boy gives girl a one second time machine, girl goes with him on imaginary ski vacation. This would be where they lost me.

It's well-acted, visually interesting, but it was a little too weird and didn't really have a plot in the traditional sense. I'm sure someone a little more comfortable with art house film would scoff at me, but my initial impression from the trailers that I wouldn't care for it was right on.