Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

good back-story, and good acting

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

***1/2 Written and directed by Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of 'Taxi Driver', there are similar themes in 'Light sleeper' that echo its predecessor in its urban isolation of the protagonist and the city as a sewer environment. Willem Dafoe is wonderful as a coke dealer on the verge of chartering new territory; he's trying to make sense of his past, as exemplified by his chance encounters with a former flame (Dana Delany) in which he so badly wants to cling, and plans for his future as his boss is moving on from the business. This is a character driven story, and the characters are well-drawn. Willem Dafoe's John Le Tour is a more mature Travis Bickle, past-his-prime, darkly contemplative and endlessly writing in journals trying to find meaning or direction. After beating his cocaine addiction 2 years before and adjusting, can he readjust again, finding semblance? However, as others have mentioned, the film should've ended with him harmoniously? between two Chinese paintings, leaning back on the bed. After that, studio meddling had to have ensued, as the sugary conclusion does not fit. Separate Note: Would some company already release 'Blue Collar' by Paul Schrader and with Richard Pryor already?

Paul Schrader has had a spotty career as a director but LIGHT SLEEPER may very well be his best. Willem Dafoe proves he's incapable of giving a bad performance as a drug dealer looking to get out. Dafoe is a classic Schrader hero...an insider trying to become an outsider while keeping his self-respect intact...a theme prevalent in most Schrader films (AMERICAN GIGOLO, LIGHT OF DAY). Downbeat to be sure given its subject matter, but LIGHT SLEEPER has a lot to offer. First and foremost is the acting. Not only does Dafoe excel, but Susan Sarandon is great as a deceptively friendly pusher and the supporting cast is dynamite - David Spade, Dana Delaney (as Dafoe's patient love interest), MaryBeth Hurt, and best of all, singer-songwriter Paul Jabara as an out-of-control junkie. A terrific film.

There are many movies that tells stories of drug dealers who are unhappy with their occupation, but not all of them paint such a clear character picture like the Light Sleeper. By the middle of the movie I could truly relate to the Willem Defoe character as a person. He has insomnia, he survived his own addiction, he writes a journal, and he cares about the serious questions in life. Most of us haven't sold drugs, but most of us will be able to relate to the torment that the character is going through. Its like being immersed in a sin, knowing that it is bad, and still doing it. As for cinematography, I enjoyed to see an urban setting full of electric lights, and the various people who cannot give the main character any relief for his loneliness. I did not care much for the Susan Surandon character, in light of Willem Defoe's performance she is sort of out of the picture. In the end I had a good emotional resolution. I liked this and I think you will like this movie as well if you are into serious films that tell stories of tormented people.

Hollow ManSpoilers herein.I particularly enjoy movies that are part of a series. That way, the context is even sharper than the usual genre and societal factors that come into play. Context is what movies are all about, and most particularly Schrader-written movies.In this case we have three films (`Taxi,` this, `Dead') about night prowlers in a corrupting city, all written by Schrader. Two have been directed by Scorsese and one by Schrader himself. Scorsese is by far the more competent director, but I like Schrader's approach better.Scorsese selects actors that are full of energy and encouraged to radiate. They become prime movers in the universe we see. The camera is attached to them, in `Taxi Driver' quite literally. As these guys move through the world, the energy of the world feeds back. This fullness of energy and exchange drives Scorsese projects. Cage in `Bring out the Dead.'That's despite the fact that what Schrader had in mind was something different. In every one of his scripts he creates a world that moves on its own and pulls energy out of his hapless hero (always a man, except when he tried it with his lover).The correct type of actor for this is one that can create negative energy, someone who visibly sucks life from outside forces. Scorsese cannot do this, but he came close with Dafoe in `Temptation.'The final scenes in `Temptation' are informed by Michelangelo's Pieta, an amazing statue of the slain Christ in Mary's lap. She is alive - all the forms of her face and body are constructed in such a way to contain her. Jesus on the other hand is more than simply desiccated. Every form in his being comes not from what is contained within, but what has been taken by the environment. He is defined by negative form. Not quite scallops and scoops, but their more subtle and devilish cousins.Dafoe pulled this off in spite of Scorsese's meddling. Schrader was there in Morroco and saw this, so commandeered Dafoe for this project. Here, Dafoe sucks energy from what surrounds him. His character doesn't understand why he is so jinxed, but he is. A locomotive of removal, a hollow man hollowing out the space around him.Sarandon is merely furniture, and does the job adequately. Her role is to give an excuse for talk about karma and akashic records. Delany needs be no more than one of the hapless lives caught in the vacuum.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.