Soon after the death of his father, a distraught young man whose dreams constantly invade his waking life begins a job as a graphic designer. He then is love-struck with his creative-thinking neighbor, a beautiful French woman, and feels he can show her his world.
It's not that The Science of Sleep is a terrible film. It's not. It's just that it doesn't operate properly and there's nothing worse than seeing a film in which obvious design and potential is ultimately unfulfilled.
More amazing work from Gondry. If you're interested in a basic narrative, look away; if you prize inventive filmmaking, don't miss it.
Orlando Sentinel
September 29, 2006
The movie plays like an exhausted hallucination, disjointed and frustrating, much of it owing to the lack of chemistry Gondry allows between his stars.
It's all very cosmopolitan (the dialogue is English, French and Spanish), very independent, a wee bit juvenile and very confusing, of course. But The Science of Sleep is also remarkably magical and desperately romantic beneath it all.
The whimsy Gondry whips up soon goes wispy as we wait in vain for all this sweet-natured silliness to reveal a meaning that isn't transparently obvious.
Cinematical
February 01, 2008
Something like a Luis Bunuel film, but with politics replaced by fashion. It is, essentially, a hipster wet dream.
The Science Of Sleep is truly a delight at times, a startlingly original piece of work that's not as accessible as Eternal Sunshine but is every bit as magnificent when in full flow.
