He's everywhere! It's raining Eric Stoltz! At least in "Mask" we couldn't see his face! But now, in "Killing Zoe" and "Pulp Fiction," and finally "Sleep With Me," the freckly redhead has become the poster boy of American independent film.
"Sleep With Me," which opens today at the Charles in rotation with a program of shorter films, is an agreeably shaggy and improvised tale of youthful angst in what appears to be the Los Angeles professional film community, junior division.
It's set amid a goofy crew of actors, writers and directors; and if you know the last, even by reputations, you'll see actors playing versions of them, including wheelchair-bound cult figure Neal Jimenez, who wrote and directed "The Waterdance," which starred . . . Eric Stoltz. And that other poster boy of the movement, Quentin Tarantino, also shows up, late in the picture, to deliver a deadpan nutso read-out on "Top Gun" as gay propaganda.
But the main thrust of the film is a triangle between Stoltz, his wife Meg Telly and best friend Craig Sheffer. The dynamics: Stoltz loves Tilly but not as much as Tilly loves Stoltz. But Sheffer also loves Tilly and when Stoltz moronically wavers in his loyalty (with a woman Sheffer has brought to a party), Tilly sleeps with Sheffer but then regrets it. There is much sorting out.
Its plot encapsulated that way, the movie sounds almost linear. But it's very much a "new movie," largely improvised at parties (when they got done shooting the actual dialogue, they put down the cameras and continued the party) and poker games. The movie consists more of riffs than scenes and lurches all over the place, pausing to listen when somebody gets something amusing going. Yet, as sloppy-casual as it is, it's not bad.
The key scenes, amid the jabber, have punch. Whether scripted or improvised, much of the dialogue has real zing and spice, and is undercut by and expresses real emotion.
Stoltz, for example, is far more vivid here than he was in variations of the stoned dope king in "Pulp Fiction" or "Killing Zoe." Additionally, both Tilly and Sheffer are affecting. It's a very tough little movie, far from the strident and brazenly show-offy business of "Zoe" and "Pulp." It's life fiction.
"Sleep With Me"
Starring Eric Stoltz, Meg Tilly and Craig Sheffer
Directed by Rory Kelly
Released by United Artists
Rated R
** 1/2