youresleepingnicole
Nicole is quiet and aimless. Maybe she's got a lot going on under the surface. A languorous summer of bike rides, ice cream, soaking in the pool and watching her brothers' band rehearse finally leads to at least a small eruption of emotion.
Nicole's parents are away. She and her best friend hang out. She works at a Goodwill-type store (until she is fired for taking home some of the clothes). She receives a credit card in the mail and uses it to buy tickets to Iceland for her and her friend. They read guide books. She is mildly attracted to her brother's new drummer.
You're Sleeping Nicole captures the sense of the freedom of youth remarkably well. Nicole is also literally not sleeping, kept up by the heat and her own confusion and lack of direction. She is sleepwalking through life. In a great scene, she walks down a suburban street at night and is a little alarmed when the same car slowly circles the block. But, like everything else in this film, it is nothing nefarious, just a young dad trying to get his baby to sleep. Nicole gets in the car and she is the one who dozes off.
This Quebecois film exists to create an atmosphere and a feeling more than anything else, which is good because do we really need another story about a bored middle class girl with a comfortable home and nothing to do? Nicole is understated but she does have potential and that is what makes her a watchable and likeable character.