When you’re an independent filmmaker, there’s a major nightmare after you’ve finished the film and have a final cut. You would imagine that the nightmare is not being able to find a theatrical distributor. That’s just normal in the business. The nightmare is selling your film to a theatrical distributor and your film never gets seen again. Such is what happened to Too Much Sleep. The film played SXSW in 1997. While it took time, indie distributor The Shooting Gallery made a deal and released the film in March 2001. The movie received raves from Roger Ebert and other critics. Before it could get released on home video and cable, the company went bankrupt. Too Much Sleep vanished from theaters and the world. But now the film is back with its tale of sleepwalking through New Jersey.
Jack Crawford (The Thing TV series’ Marc Palmieri) can’t get enough sleep. He’s still living with his mom while he works a job as night watchman. One morning while he’s half-awake while taking the bus home, a young woman asks if Jack wouldn’t mind standing while an older woman (Judy Sabo Podinker) uses the seat. She’s not feeling good. Jack stands up and thinks he’s got a chance with the girl. As he tries to stay awake while holding onto the bar, Jack notices his paper bag is missing. This is not good since his gun is in the paper bag. Where is his gun? a friend of Jack hooks him up with Eddie (Pasquale Gaeta). He knows a lot of people in the community and might be connected to the mob. He’s up for helping the kid find the gun. What follows is a pursuit around the house parties, bowling alleys, strip malls, strip clubs and Chinese restaurants.
Too Much Sleep is a trip. Marc Palmieri plays Jack as what we’d imagine Judge Reinhold’s character in Fast Times At Ridgemont High would doing if he was stuck working late shift. If you ever work an overnight shift, you realize you’re in a daze the entire time. You get home as everyone in the house’s alarm clock are ringing. You try to get to sleep except people act like you being in bed at 11 a.m. is being lazy. Marc has that stare of never being full awake. This a stoner film except Jack is naturally stoned.
While the movie is about tracking down a lost gun, Eddie is constantly stealing scenes. I don’t get how Pasquale Gaeta didn’t get a minor part in The Sopranos. He’s the perfect version of the New Jersey “might be in the mob” character. He shot his scenes before The Sopranos went into production. How did he not get a call from David Chase? His big monologue at the end of the film is glorious. Perhaps the best news for Pasquale is his performance is no longer lost.
Too Much Sleep is a great indie film from the mid-90s (although it didn’t come out until 2001). The detective aspect of the film makes it shine. The places Jack has to visit are so colorful. The characters have an allure to them. The strip club bouncer who tells Jack about getting his music career going; has no problem beating up Jack when the boss demands it. The odd characters at the party are splendid. There’s so much to enjoy about the film. Roger Ebert’s thumbs up reviewed declared, “Cherish it as a treasure…” Ebert wasn’t wrong. Too Much Sleep remains a treasure.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K transfer is from the original camera negative. The details of suburban New Jersey in the mid-90s are so clear on the screen. The Audio is LPCM 2.0. You’ll hear those Jersey accents so clearly. There is also an isolated soundtrack score so you can enjoy Mitchell Toomey’s music. There are English subtitles for the movie, but you have to activate them on the Set Up screen.
Audio Commentary with Director David Maquiling and Star Marc Palmieri has them looking back almost 30 years from when they shot the film. We learn what happened to the little boy from the opening of the film. They talk about how the rehearsals reshaped. David’s mother played the voice of Marc’s mother in the movie. Later, David’s mother pops up on the bus next to David. The best is Marc talking about his fruit allergy and how he was reacting to eating an apple in a scene. The man gave it all for his art.
Documentary: The Story of Too Much Sleep (19:23) has director Maquiling talk about his family went to see movies on Sunday. He enjoyed the communal experience and it inspired him to be a filmmaker. He became the first Filipino-American to direct a film that received national distribution. The Shooting Gallery was the original distributor. In the middle of theatrical releases, The Shooting Gallery went bankrupt. An executive told him to come to the offices now. He was able to get the film masters form a room opened with a crowbar. While he had the physical elements, he didn’t have the rights to release the movie. He finally worked out a deal to get his movie back. By then, it had been years and there was no real buzz to do a home video deal. The documentary is the story the film’s Blu-ray revival thanks to a film student who took his family to see at an arthouse in Manhattan in 2001. When that student got into making his own Home Video label, he wanted to release it. We see how Maqulling was able to find the camera negative. We see how Whole Grain Pictures restored the movie for the Blu-ray release in a top-quality version. Maquiling went on to teach at UCLA and USC. Marc Palmieri talks about how the character reflected himself at the time. He was kind of directionless since he thought he’d be a pro baseball player. He had been drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, but didn’t make it. He has been acting in other movies and TV shows over the year.
Trailer (1:25) starts with Jack on the bus and Roger Ebert’s rave of “Cherish it as a treasure…”
Finding Uncle Eddie (5:00) has Maquiling talk about casting Pasquale Gaeta. Marc Palmieri talks about being blown away by Pasquale from the audition onward. The director let Pasquale improv on the set. The car warning sound was real and not part of post production.
Also from Whole Grain is the trailers for Journey From the Fall, a movie about life in Vietnam after the U.S. Military pulled out. This Blu-ray comes out in July.
Whole Grain Films present Too Much Sleep. Directed by David Maquiling. Screenplay by David Maquiling. Starring Marc Palmieri, Pasquale Gaeta, Nicol Zanzarella, Philip Galinsky, Judy Sabo Podinker, Mary Ann Riel, Jon Steinberg, Ruth Kaye and Jon Langione. Running Time: 82 minutes. Rating: PG-13. Release Date: May 7, 2024..
