Let's start checking them off, one by one:
* Star-turned-producer overacting a storm. That would be Charlize Theron as Jolene, an irresponsible mother of 12-year-old Tara (AnnaSophia Robb), both of whom are forced out of their home when Jolene's boyfriend is busted for growing pot.
* Dysfunctional family dynamic. Tara is used to her mom's flighty ways, and merely sulks and shrugs when they move in with Jolene's slacker brother James (Stahl's character) - and sulks more when Jolene suddenly leaves.
* Hints of troubled childhood. Jolene and James talk ominously about their father and the farm where they grew up.
* Major actor slumming in minor role. That honor goes to Woody Harrelson, playing James' construction-gang co-worker, a superfluous character played superfluously.
* Road trip. James and Tara go on the lam in Jolene's beat-up Buick, as director William Maher captures many shots of lonely two-lane blacktop that are supposed to be evocative of something-or-other.
* Uncomfortable coming-of-age moments. Robb ("Bridge to Terabithia") has to enact an off-putting "Lolita"-esque moment by a motel swimming pool, made more awkward by its complete irrelevance to Zac Stanford's script.
* Dennis Hopper as the bad guy. Hopper plays the father in the inevitable reunion in the movie's second half.
What's missing from "Sleepwalking" is an ounce of sincerity or genuine human emotion - or frankly any reason we, the audience, should care about these brooding, ill-defined characters. The title refers to how James is sleepwalking through life, but Maher takes the metaphor too literally by making everyone sleepwalk through the movie.
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* SEAN P. MEANS can be reached at movies@sltrib.com or 801-257-8602. Send comments about this review to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Sleepwalking
WHERE: Area theaters.
WHEN: Opens today.
RATING: R for language and a scene of violence.
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes.
BOTTOM LINE: An unappetizing feast of independent-movie clichés, served without any discernible purpose.
