The Science of Sleep

2006 romantic fantasy

Rating: 13/20

Plot: Stephane, a mentally-challenged artist who frequently mixes up reality with his dreams and vice versa, returns to live with his mother in France after the death of his father in Mexico. He gets a job which he finds suffocating and falls in love with his neighbor. Life in the real world and Stephane's subconscious tangle, and the world is filled with puppets and cotton balls.

I really wanted to fall in love with this, but there was so much about it that was frustrating. It's a little too similar in feel and pace to writer/director Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but a lot more difficult to connect with, mostly because the main character is really annoying. There is fantastic stop-motion plushy and cardboard animation that gives the dream sequences an otherworldly (dreamy?) feel; otherwise, too much of this seems rambling and artsy-fartsy and way too cute to really like. The multilingual script was clever at times but also made things a little difficult for my tired mind to follow. I probably need to see it when I'm not sick. My views also might lack accuracy because I watched this with my eyes open and my heart closed.

Here I am, sick: