Review

Despite the heavy-handedness of Schrader's direction and its unsatisfying sugarcoated ending, Light Sleeper is an engrossing and intriguing drama. Essentially the story of the midlife crisis of alienated 40-year-old drug runner John LeTour (Dafoe), the story is punched up by an entertainingly frantic, amphetamine-driven performance by Sarandon as the brains and balls behind a high-class New York drug ring. LeTour is a loyal and decent but slumberous man who, after years of delivering the goods to the yuppies, posers and rich lowlifes, begins to question it all. Under Schrader's direction, the denizens of this seedy world of drug pushers, users and abusers become a metaphor for the world at large. A serious, arty, flawed yet entertaining drama.