It’s Monday, and I can feel the blues circling around everyone I know. Let’s shake them off, though, and head out to a coffee house (we all need an extra shot of caffeine on a Monday, don’t we?) and find out what happens with an insomniac barista falls for the unavailable boy that she has so much chemistry, and quotable banter with. Can you meet your soul mate in a coffee house? What if said soul mate belongs to someone else? In this installment of the A-to-Z Cinematic Love Story Series, we take a visit to the letter D, and the 1996 movie Dream for an Insomniac.

Dream for an Insomniac (1996)
Written and Directed by Tiffanie DiBartolo

Trailer

My all-time favorite book, God Shaped Hole, was written by the same author/filmmaker that wrote and directed this movie. The only film she ever created, I was drawn to it because of the love I have for both her books, and because I have always both indie films. Ione Skye, too, was a draw, as she has always been a favorite actor of mine. More than anything else, it was the dialogue and writing that I fell in love with in this film, so much so that a quote from it has become a mantra of mine, and one that I have quoted and shared time and time again.

“Anything less than mad, passionate, extraordinary love is a waste of time. There are too many mediocre things in life to deal with and love shouldn’t be one of them.”

The cast is very nineties, with Ione Skye and Mackenzie Astin taking the leads, as well as supporting roles played by Jennifer Aniston, Seymour Cassel, and Michael Landes. Frankie (Ione Skye) is my favorite character, one that has made its way to my list of all-time favorite fictional characters, as well as characters I relate to. She is flawed, a dreamer, idealistic, and prone to fantasy and romanticism, and she is so well-read and pop-culture infused. She is a good friend, and loves in big, bold ways, oh, and she also suffers with insomnia, something I can certainly relate to, and empathize with.

Enter David (Mackenzie Astin) into Frankie’s life, and her world is shaken up and set off-course. They have initial chemistry that is palpable and in vivid color, so bright you could see it across town, and the banter between them is unprecedented. They volley words and phrases and references back-and-forth like its a sport, or foreplay, and it is impossible not to root for them. David is sure he can help cure Frankie’s insomnia, too, and she is more than willing to let him try. All seems perfect and fated and wonderful, all except for the fact that David has a girlfriend who is not Frankie.

What is left for Frankie to do but prove to David that he is in the wrong love story, and that the two of them is the only tale worth telling. How can she not fight for it? Your soul mate only comes into your coffee shop once in a lifetime, after all.

Confrontation on the beach

Dream for an Insomniac also offers up a rather keen soundtrack full of a mixture of indie tunes and old standby’s that fit picture perfectly with the story, style and feel of the film. My only complaint? The fact that I cannot seem to find a copy of the soundtrack for my own collection. Here’s one I threw together on Spotify – listen here.

Also, can I please have all of Frankie’s wardrobe? Please.