MovieChat Forums > Sleepwalking (2008) Discussion > Why bother pretending this movie was in ...

Why bother pretending this movie was in California?


Not everything has to happen in California. This movie was so obviously not filmed in California and the setting is nothing like it. Why not just set it in the Midwest where it would've fit the scenery? No change to the plot at all, just the locations. That was one of the things that annoyed me most. I live in Minnesota, and the scenery seemed at home to me.

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That's true...I live in Nor Cal and it doesn't look a whole lot like it. Doesn't really matter though because it never says where it takes place in the movie so it's open in that regard.


"You've Got to Keep Your Mind Wide Open" - AnnaSophia Robb

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The letter to James and Tara has a California address on it.

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Didn't catch that... Oh well it is what it is. They make Nor Cal seem like a real dump though... I'd rather be down in So Cal but it's nice up here too.

"You've Got to Keep Your Mind Wide Open" - AnnaSophia Robb

myspace.com/original916

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I saw Cali licence plates twice and thought the first one must have been a visitor since it was on an RV. But after I saw one on a car I thought who the hell are they trying to fool here? It's clearly filmed in somewhere far away from Cali. Somewhere far colder than NoCal.

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It was filmed in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
So your right, LOTS different than Cali.
I've driven to California from Moose Jaw... in the Winter.
No palm trees here... no cactus... no dessert. Just lots and lots of prairie.. and no ocean. There are lakes and trees and hills in some parts of the province. but where this is filmed its in the flattest part. the City its filmed in has a valley. I have not seen the movie so i don't know all the locations they used. I know of the school they used and thats pretty much it.
I don't know why the directors/writers thought they could pull SK off as Cali.. they are obviously very different. Except that alot of people would completely miss the minor details of license plates and addresses on post cards.
There is however a movie coming out called Dolan's Cadillac - a Stephen King novel. I saw the director on Friday give a presentation. That movie was filmed in Saskatchewan.. and it takes place in Nevada. And the clips that he showed, i think he did a brilliant job finding locations to make Regina pass off as Las Vegas and a smalltown to pass off as the dessert.
The Movie Just Friends with Ryan Reynolds was filmed here as well, but that movie took place in New Jersey.. climate wise New Jersey and Saskatchewan are very similar.

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I live in MN as well and, I think, that the point of putting it in CA was to give the image that Joleen likely tried the stereotypical making it 'big' as a California resident and obviously failed at it, as it's traditionally a pipe dream type of scenario / fantasy.

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I think the idea behind this supposedly being in California was to dispense with the stereotypes of California being perpetually sunny and happy.

Has anyone been up to Yuba City? It's pretty crappy up there.

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I agree with Odie and The_Black_Avenger. Everyone projects this image of California as being a happy, sunny place, probably because most of the time, and to a lot of people, it is. But for the minority of people who don't have that luxurious lifestyle, this depressing version of California both represents the characters' bleak outlook and emphasises their austere situation. So I guess it can be real or fake depending on how you look at it. Real in that maybe it represents the tiny part of California that's unseen behind the sunny facade, or fake in that it's how the characters see the place (because of their experiences) instead of how it really is.


I only do it with superheroes.

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I didn't realise it was California! I thought it was Washington or Michigan or something, it seemed so cold! I just looked at a map and also didn't actually realise California went that far north, so it snows there?

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