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Science of Sleep, The
EMAILPRINTWarner Independent Pictures

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 60 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Foreign | Romance
Written by: Michel Gondry
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 22, 2006
DVD: February 6, 2007
Running Time: 105 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Language(s): Spanish / English / French (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: R for language, some sexual content and nudity
Starring Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat, Miou-Miou, Emma de Caunes, Aurélia Petit, Sacha Bourdo, and Pierre Vaneck
The Science of Sleep is a playful romantic fantasy set inside the topsy-turvy brain of Stephane Miroux (Bernal) an eccentric young man whose dreams constantly invade his waking life. (Warner Independent Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Dave Chappelle's Block Party Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Human Nature
MUSIC: Charlotte Gainsbourg: 5:55
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
An indie version of Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," albeit with none of the star power, a quarter of the budget, half the angst, and twice the charm.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
It's not likely you'll see a film more visually exhilarating until, well, Gondry's next.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ethan Alter
Bernal continues to demonstrate an impressive range; the character requires the normally laid-back actor to be a wild ball of energy, and he's more than up to the challenge. His performance is hilarious, heartfelt and more than a little creepy, which could also be said about the movie itself.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
This scruffy, unkempt tale lacks the narrative satisfaction of Kaufman's dramatic design, but between the chaotic zigs and creative jags, it proclaims its own kind of messy authenticity and a bittersweet beauty.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
This fascinating and occasionally transporting film never quite transforms into something really great.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Very difficult to characterize and that's why I like it. The best I can do is to call it a sunny tragedy.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
It's rare for young actors to exude as much charisma and charm as Gainsbourg and García Bernal.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
To me, the movie feels like a small but ingeniously crafted gift.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Sally Foster
The Science of Sleep truly has to be seen to be believed.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Sweet, crazy, and tinged with sadness, Michel Gondry's new feature The Science of Sleep is a wondrous concoction.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
For the soul of Gondry's work, it seems to me, is neither its soaring flights of visual fancy nor its sometimes crude slapstick, but rather its pained understanding of a generation hopelessly tongue-tied when it comes to matters of the heart.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
No one who sees it will confuse it with anything else. Fans of Gondry's DIY low-tech aesthetic, which he blends, as always, with exceptionally sophisticated animation techniques, will adore it.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Gondry is a soft surrealist without much of a sociopolitical agenda, closer to Dr. Seuss than Luis Buñuel,
Read Full Review >Empire Oliver Richards
It suffers occasionally from self-consciousness and over-indulgence in its own oddity, but Gondry’s grasp of emotion and visuals is enchanting. Even if he seems several sandwiches short of a picnic.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Never intends to be deeper than a magician's hat, and its wonderfully low-tech stop-motion technique is not only a nod to Czech animator Jan Svankmajer but a tacit rebuke to computer-graphics-heavy fantasies such as "The Chronicles of Narnia" or the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
I think it's a mess, but - and this is a major caveat - an endearing, beautiful, hopelessly honest mess that's supported by a pair of performances so unnaturally natural that they draw you in and clutch you, struggling, to their flipping, flopping hearts.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
This pop-up book of a film is an ideal arrangement between director and star.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
The title is all that's boring about director Michel Gondry's latest mind bender, as trippy as LSD.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
The look of the film is dazzling, even hallucinatory, and the concept is beyond quirky as conceived by Gondry, a talented visual stylist, in his first film based on his own script. The story is compelling, unconventional and diverting in its blurring of reality and fantasy.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Unlike Gondry's previous features, Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine, Science lacks the sturdy armature of a Charlie Kaufman screenplay to support its eccentricities. The flood of delight in the film's first 90 minutes slowed to a trickle and, finally, a drip.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
It only works about half the time, but it's an interesting half.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Fusing animation and live action with a series of outrageous props, Gondry veers dangerously close to being precious. But make no mistake: Gondry's hallucinatory brilliance holds you in thrall.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
So while The Science of Sleep may not, in the end, be terribly deep, it is undoubtedly -- and deeply -- refreshing.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
With Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal energetically playing a vulnerable graphic artist with a hyperactive imagination and little confidence with women, picture has an overriding quality of sweetness that will prove endearing to audiences, especially younger females.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The Science of Sleep is like a weird dream that tugs at the memory throughout the day with its intriguing, misshapen pieces.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The result is a charming, inventive, ambitious, surreal mess.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason McBride
It's this edge that saves The Science of Sleep from its own whimsy.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Watching it is like being the only non-stoned person in the room as someone tells a long, long story.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Certainly pleasant, and occasionally endearing, but it's also strangely empty and unsatisfying, like hearing about someone else's wild dream: You can appreciate the details, but you don't really care how it turns out.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
What "Eternal Sunshine" did with magic and whimsy, The Science of Sleep accomplishes with confusion and pretentiousness.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
A frantic and funny diversion, but it pales and tires before its time is up. It doesn't know the meaning of enough.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
The Science of Sleep transports you, but it strands you, too. Apart from the time-machine bit and two or three other daft exchanges, Gondry’s scenes tend to circle around the same drain: the hero’s insufferable narcissism.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
You have to identify pretty strongly with suffering artistes to find anything to root for in The Science of Sleep.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 60 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Gina R gave it a9:
I loved this movie...it has a manageable amount of confusion & the necessary amount of comedy to really entertain! The involvement of the office colleagues were my one of my favorite elements. I just love the creative handling of this film. I could identify with so many of the so-human emotions that were dealt with -- the embarrassment of mis-understanding when trying to gain favor with somebody...and things going wrong, out of control. The film was a tiny bit long, but Gael Garcia Bernal is so gorgeous, that I didnt mind watching him for the extra time!! Beautiful & subtle, worth watching if you like arty type movies rather than the sensationalist main-stream 1+1.
James K gave it a6:
The surreal aspects of the movie were fantastic and intriguing, but the main character is a self obsessed brat, which ultimately ruined what could have been an amazing piece of art.
Liam W. gave it a3:
This movie is a huge disappointment. So much "art" was put into this, but it was basically bits of a music video inserted into a terrible plot. None of the characters are all that memorable or likable, and the story (If you could call it that) was shallow and pointless. Very overrated.
Matt C gave it a10:
Well, i do Strongly the believe the movie, alone, is a good and interesting movie. But to personally mention, I think the response depends on the situation you, the viewer, are in. For example, if you have feelings for someone and have interest in him/her, the movie probably will suck you into it's imaginative world. The film depicts the sadness but warmth feeling of 2 people's elevating yet confusing love for each other.It's a peaceful film. Full of imagination and creativity. It's its own little world. Although a good movie as it is, it may sadden you in specific parts. But that's what makes a good movie. Overall, To understand & enjoy the movie, you will have to be in subtle peace and relaxation and must just let the film convince you hat is happening is real.
John B. gave it an8:
This is a fantastic movie packed with quiet and subtle points as well as loud and obvious visual confusion. There is definitely plenty here to grab onto and think about. It is just a matter of sifting through the relentless changes in scenes from the mind of Stephanie, his dream world, and his reality. This mess made me feel like I missed something along the way, but perhaps and more likely, the movie was too deep to fully grasp, which isn't exactly a bad thing.
Joe gave it a9:
Doze off... hardly. I stayed up well past my bedtime to watch this almost perfect film. A must see for those of us who like to think during and after viewing a film.
D gave it a10:
Once again, Michel Gondry makes a film WAY to good for the fumbling masses. "Sleep" is unimaginably inventive, puts pretty much every other movie on the shelf to shame in terms of artistic vision. Gael Garcia Bernal is fantastic, and so is the rest of the awesome cast, who along with Gondry's inimitable brand of movie magic conjure up pretty much the most moving, enteraining, wildly hallucinatory and gloriously whimsical film you will see until, well, Gondry's next. If however, you have your nose pointed tersely in the air and wish to see a serious film that doesn't have all that bothersome ingenuity, genuine emotion and heartfelt innocence, proceed past the Science of Sleep to The Departed or the like, and let someone else have the cathartic experience viewing the latest Gondry masterpiece.
