The Perfect Sleep

A marvel of budget-stretching innovation, this comic-book noir plays like a cross between Zentropa and Memento without the pretentiousness. Witty, self-aware and consistently compelling, The Perfect Sleep revels in its contrivances: A nameless hood (Pardoe) haunts various L.A. cinematic landmarks looking for a lost love (Sanchez) among the Russian underworld. It’s a one-joke vehicle that goes on for too long, but like the titular ideal slumber its antihero calls “the ecstasy of the unlikely,” Alter’s film is a rare pleasure.