Main Cast: Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany, David Clennon, Mary Beth Hurt
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Paul Schrader's brilliant study of another alienated urban denizen skirting the borderline of madness stars Willem Dafoe as John Le Tour, a rich, upscale drug dealer for Manhattan professionals -- "White drugs for white people," as he puts it. John is a recovering addict and for him it's the perfect job, as he can relate completely with the self-absorbed eccentrics he services. But when his boss Ann (Susan Sarandon) tells John that she is planning to abandon the drug business for herbal cosmetics, John's life is thrown into disarray. With no future plans, he sees black clouds heading his way. Coincidentally, he runs into Marianne (Dana Delany), an old girlfriend and former addict who has returned to New York to be with her dying mother. John sees Marianne as his redemption and starts to pursue her, but she doesn't want to be reminded of her past. When the murder of an Upper West Side woman involved in a drug transaction has the police scouring the town for suspects, John thinks they are following him, and the strain upon his life and his hopes for the future become harder and harder to bear. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Of the many dark morality plays written and/or directed by Paul Schrader, Light Sleeper is one of the best plotted and acted. From Susan Sarandon's breezy, ballsy businesswoman to Willem Dafoe's conflicted dealer and Dana Delany's mournful ex-addict, the cast fires on all cylinders. The same goes for supporting players Jane Adams, David Spade, and Mary Beth Hurt (the wife of Paul Schrader). None of these actors would be able to shine, though, if it weren't for the director's tight, moody script and direction. Schrader and cinematographer Edward Lachman paint a Manhattan composed entirely of greys, both visual and moral. Full of well-heeled, anesthetized sufferers, the New York of Light Sleeper is a place of restless nights and spiritual ache -- the perfect backdrop for the mute but visually acute suffering that plays across the taut faces of Delany and Dafoe. The only distraction from all of this meditative sorrow is the execrable musical accompaniment of Michael Been, whose ponderous lyrics too explicitly explain emotions that are already apparent in the script and performances. Despite this single pervasive flaw, the compelling Light Sleeper should unite fans of gritty true-crime fare and visceral drama. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Victor Garber - Tis; Jane Adams - Randi; Francesca Bonicoli - 1st Model; Vinnie Capone - Young Cuban; Robert Cicchini - Guidone; Damien Corrente - Baseball Card Fan; Heather Rose Dominic - Crackhead; Esteban Fernandez - Concierge; Jennifer Fowler - Woman at Bar; Joe Gironda - Funeral Home Employee; Paul Jabara - Eddie; Brian Judge - Thomas; Bernadette Jurkowski - French Girl; Ken Ladd - Carlos; Peter Macklin - Baseball Card Fan; Arcoiris Medina - Woman at Laundromat; Raymond Normandeau - Chef; Christopher Todd Northrup - Retro Yuppie; Billy Joe Novinski - Baseball Card Fan; Steven Posen - Hasid; Rene Rivera - Manuel; Sam Rockwell - Jealous; James Saxenmeyer - Bar Patron; Paul Stockman Smith - Radio Announcer; David Spade - Theological Cokehead; Timothy Stickney - Young Dominican; Paul Stocker - Maitre D'; Gabrielle Stubbert - Woman at Bar; Ronald Sylvers - Prison Guard; Jeff Telvi - Male Model; Elena Vannucci - 2nd Model; Tatiana Von Furstenberg - French Girl; Carolyn L.A. Walker - Police Woman; David Sukoff - Baseball Card Fan
Credit
Richard Hornung - Costume Designer, Glen Trotiner - First Assistant Director, Paul Schrader - Director, Kristina Boden - Editor, Mario Kassar - Executive Producer, Michael Been - Composer (Music Score), Marilyn Carbone - Makeup, James C. Feng - Production Designer, Richard Hornung - Production Designer, Edward Lachman - Cinematographer, Diana Pokorny - Production Manager, Linda Reisman - Producer, G. Mac Brown - Producer, Jessica Lanier - Set Designer, Steve Kirshoff - Special Effects, Paul Schrader - Screenwriter
Dafoe plays John LeTour, a 40-year-old drug dealer whose drifting existence is thrown into crisis by his boss Ann (Sarandon)'s decision to retire and his own encounter with his ex-lover (Delany), which leads to his involvement in a murder case concerning a girl who is found dead and in possession of cocaine, indirectly linked to LeTour.
Schrader has described the film as a "man and his room" story like American Gigolo and his most famous screenplay, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, and in this case his character dealing with anxiety over his progressing life and the external forces that could threaten it. The insomniac LeTour spends his nights writing a journal, but whenever he comes to the end of a volume he simply throws the notebook away.
Light Sleeper also shares with American Gigolo and Schrader's Patty Hearst an ending patterned after that of Robert Bresson's Pickpocket in which the imprisoned hero/heroine is shown beginning to contemplate a new and hopefully wider existence.
Schrader has considered this to be the third installment of his unofficial trilogy (preceded by Taxi Driver and American Gigolo) and is to be continued by The Walker, with the character in his 50s, to which Schrader states that he will "retire him."
Comedic actor David Spade is featured in this film, one of his earliest roles, and is credited as "Theological Cokehead" (as seen trying to explain the ontological argument over the existence of God to LeTour).
