On Saturday, we caught a late screening of "Sleepwalk With Me," the film adaptation of comedian Mike Birbiglia's acclaimed off-Broadway show (that I had not seen). It's one of the most understated and charming movies I've seen in years -- our protagonist is sleepwalking through his life both literally and figuratively, not sure what to do about his career (wants to be a comedian but is a bartender in a comedy club), his relationship (eight years and still not married to his girlfriend, played by a particularly adorable Lauren Ambrose) or his increasingly dangerous late-night walks (played to hilarious effect, despite no use of bears). With its soft touch and story-driven humor, the film reeks of National Public Radio -- Ira Glass of "This American Life" fame cowrote and produced it. Still I can't imagine even the biggest proponent of defunding NPR not completely falling in love with this one -- and by this one I mean Mike Birbiglia. Because they're on a shoestring budget, Birgiglia and Glass did Q&A's after each screening at IFC this weekend to help drum up interest -- they were increasingly loopy by the time our 10:20 p.m. showing ended with a midnight screening still to go -- during which they talked about the challenges of turning the show into a film. One of the biggest surprises was that the original cut wasn't working without the Ferris Bueller-ish talking-to-the-audience narration from the play, so they added it in later. It was a decision that served the film extremely well, as was did the casting of James Rebhorn as Birgiglia's father, who is way funnier than any comedian could ever dream of being!
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