AllMovie

A deadpan comedy very much in the spirit of Hal Hartley or David O. Russell, David Maquiling's debut feature isn't quite as assured or substantive as those filmmakers' best works, but has an enjoyably offbeat ardor all its own. The sleepy rhythms of its small town are captured with unerring drollness, and the mostly clever execution manages to be both subtle and oddball, a combination often met with contempt in lesser films. In a blazingly funny performance, Pasquale Gaeta recalls the best comic work of Joe Pesci with his expert timing and uncanny naturalism, and newcomer Marc Palmieri brings a sweetly resigned dignity to the lead character, whose motivations are a little too fuzzy at times to be truly satisfactory. Regardless, the film is hard to resist, especially for those who seek off-center fare that manages to be both subversive and relaxed. After a run at various film festivals, Too Much Sleep was eventually distributed nationwide as part of the Shooting Gallery film series in 2001.