Jacqueline Bisset, still one of the screen’s great beauties, gets a chance to shine in Christopher Munch’s “The Sleepy Time Gal” and she seizes it, scoring a poignant triumph.
Playing a role of almost Bergmanesque intensity–a tough, lonely woman dying of cancer as she examines her past–Bisset is both convincing and radiant. Her character, Frances, is an ex-jazz disc jockey, who, during the 1950s, was the belle of Daytona Beach, Fla., and later raised a son (Nick Stahl), gave up a baby daughter for adoption and crusaded for progressive causes, never winning the fame or comfort that she deserved. At the end, she is approaching near-anonymous death in the ’80s in New York, just as that long-lost daughter, Rebecca (portrayed by Martha Plimpton), searches and learns of her mother’s life.
The material may sound like a sentimental trap, but writer-director Munch–as we know from “The Hours and Times” and “Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day”–never succumbs to sentiment. There’s a wistful poetry and dramatic clarity about his work that matches the sensitive acting of Bisset, Plimpton, Stahl, Seymour Cassell (as Rebecca’s dad), Amy Madigan (Frances’ friend) and Frankie Faison (Frances’ ex-radio colleague). The movie, a critical hit at Sundance, covers a great deal of geographical and emotional territory in relatively little time, and suggests even more. I only wish it were longer.
Bisset, like many star film actresses over 40, has long been a wasted resource. Here she shows fully what we’re missing. Her unexplained English accent may seem slightly anachronistic, but nothing about Frances is. As Bisset plays her, she is exactly the sort of character who could effortlessly break your heart. Here, both character and actress do it, beautifully, again.
`The Sleepy-Time Gal’
(star)(star)(star)
Directed and written by Christopher Munch; additional writing (Betty’s book excerpts) by Alice Elliott Dark; photographed by Rob Sweeney; edited by Annette Davey, Dody Dorn, Munch; art direction by Melissa Frankel, Jody Asnes, Bryan Hodge; music supervised by S. A. Lippman; produced by Ruth Charny, Munch. Opens Friday at Facets Multimedia. Running time: 1:34. No MPAA rating. Adult (for nudity, language, sensuality).
Frances ……………. Jacqueline Bisset
Rebecca ……………. Martha Plimpton
Morgan …………….. Nick Stahl
Maggie …………….. Amy Madigan
Jimmy Dupree ……….. Frankie R. Faison
Bob ……………….. Seymour Cassel
