Synopsis
Evil never sleeps
An insomniac who walks the streets at night witnesses a murder which triggers a strange chain of events.
2001 Directed by Marc S. Grenier
An insomniac who walks the streets at night witnesses a murder which triggers a strange chain of events.
Stephen Baldwin Macha Grenon Michael Ironside Edward Yankie Janet Kidder Maxim Roy Claudia Ferri Karen Elkin Frank Schorpion Conrad Pla Daniel Brochu Gillian Ferrabee Lorne Brass Michelle Anne Lipper Donovan Reiter Rachelle Lefevre Mark Camacho Kevin Ryder Holly Uloth Terrence Labrosse Robert Higden Marjorie Silcoff Steve Adams Dexter Ranville Mark Antony Krupa Ian MacDonald Nick Cavaiola Robert Burns Al Dubois Show All…
Dead Awake. Insomnio, Буден до смърт, Insomni, Dead Awake - Der Tod schläft nie, חלומות בהקיץ, 데드 어웨이크, Zbrodnia ze snu, 亡命边缘
Pokey! Grilled cheese!
Unapologetically stuck between the late 90s Pulp Fiction wannabe to the early 00s electronica-loving hipster, Dead Awake is an off the rails mind-melter thanks to its insanely colorful cast of characters, quirky writing and directing, and the most appropriate casting of a lead role I can think of in a long while. The amount of twists in this thing could out-tie a Boy Scout, basically putting to shame every other neo-noir in existence with how far it decides to go. Enter Mr. Stephen Baldwin, wide-eyed and alert (HA!), so much so you can never tell if he’s actually awake, on an insane amount of drugs, or truly struggles with insomnia, who we follow on his nightly solo…
Very surprising that this wasn't made in the 90's—a superquirky after-hours neo-noir with a trip-hop/illbient/techno soundtrack + jazzy breaks overlaying a loopy mystery and SBaldwin as a narcoleptic businessman who sleeps all day at work and witnesses a murder during a late-night somnambulist walkabout. Lots of great character actor work here, especially the needling detective and the 24-hour diner full of loons (Michael Ironside as an ornery Nam vet/End of Days prophet with literal brain damage and the waifish legally blind diner girl). Delightfully eccentric and trippy. SBaldwin flicks really need to get more respect; he is, after all, the second most talented Baldwin brother.
A very silly film in which Stephen Baldwin wanders around Montreal as very silly things around him. I was hoping for AFTER HOURS, but what I got was expired Tarantino. It's chronologically shaken up to the point of confusion even though none of the reveals are that shocking. Big Canadian TV vibes. Michael Ironside shows up and rants.
"I happen to think I look pretty good in underwear."
Orson Welles and Fritz Lang transforming the nascent film noir genre from wartime propaganda trash into gonzo, perverted, surreal existentialism has led all the way to this glorious once-in-a-lifetime oddity.
went into this movie expecting it to be gritty based on the description. it is in fact not gritty. it is a film of epic WeirdSilly proportions. watch if youre feeling goofy
Weird movie, was clearly made to be straight to tape, but it was surprisingly engaging! Baldwin plays a high powered exec who literally cannot sleep so he starts living kind of a dual existence, mostly confined to wandering around the city at night, and usually ending up in a coffee shop with a motormouth conspiracy nut played by Michael Ironside talking his ear off for company. Eventually this goes somewhere as Baldwin is convinced he witnesses someone being murdered, but then he sees the victim turn up alive and well and working in his office! What's going on here??? Well stuff. Stuff is going on. Baldwin starts to wonder if perhaps his months of sleepless nights is finally catching up…
Christopher Nolan rented this from Blockbuster in 2001, in the midst of receiving acclaim for his Memento(2000). When the credits rolled, he said “Yep, I just got blown the fuck out”
It may be a trashy DTV Nu Image movie with Stephen Baldwin — one of those gimmicky Hitchcock-copping neo-noirs about an insomniac who witnesses a murder, gets implicated, etc. — but somehow its imaginative script and likably unhinged direction allows it to occasionally transcend cliches. There are head-spinning and crudely charming moments too amusing to dismiss, such as Michael Ironside’s conspiracy nut side character suddenly going off about circus performers and the sex trade (apropos of absolutely nothing), or Baldwin shooting a Rottweiler in a diner, or a police department erupting into a swinging, alcohol-fueled party when the lead investigator wins the lottery and quits the case. The plot is pretty standard paperback thriller stuff, but the feverish execution is so out of control that it becomes something truly enjoyable; a dumbed-down dudebro Pynchon run-all-night masculinity freakout that I miraculously found to be pretty charming camp. (2.5/4)
It took me a good 40 minutes of thinking "there's something...off about this, something... familiar" to realise it was fucking Canadian. If you were ever curious as to what kind of shit played on TV ALL THE TIME if you grew up in the Great White North this is your ultimate primer.
After doing a bit of research it looks like between 2001 and 2002 Stephen Baldwin filmed not one but SIX movies back to back in Canada (XChange, co-starring Kyle MacLachlan is my personal favourite). Did the producers get some kind of tax credit or government financing to make them? Almost definitely. Was Stephen Baldwin probably the most expensive thing they paid for? Almost definitely.
Anyway it was hard…
Oh I hated this
Which is weird because I love bad movies
This fell into a grey area where it’s hopes of being considered an art film kept it from being enjoyable. The dialogue is some of the worst ever, no hyperbole. I was cringing so hard I consider self harm to escape their words.