Sleepwalk with Me

Comedian Mike Birbiglia takes his unique brand of storytelling standup to the big screen with Sleepwalk with Me, a movie adaptation of his autobiographical off-Broadway one-man show and memoir. Created with This American Life's Ira Glass, this inventive and insightful rites-of-passage comedy stars Birbiglia as an aspiring standup comic who is pushed to tour the country performing at dozens of thankless gigs not only to work toward his dream job of being a professional comedian but also to avoid his long-time girlfriend (Lauren Ambrose) and her mounting need for marital commitment. The strain of which is making his bouts of sleepwalking more intense and dangerous. Birbiglia and Ambrose share a warm chemistry that gives their onscreen relationship a heart-tugging weight. But he is a better storyteller than screen presence and so the film works best in moments where Birbiglia talks directly to camera, bidding us to be on his side as he slowly breaks his girlfriend's heart. With its filmmakers coming from backgrounds of stand-up, radio, and theater, Sleepwalk with Me has a distinctly DIY feel as it blends elements of each medium into an offbeat but engaging offering that is not exactly cinematic but is definitely entertaining.