I'm not sure if these are sleeper enough, but I love That Thing You Do, the Tom Hanks-directed film about a fictional 60s one-hit wonder band.

And I always push Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon on people. It's basically Christopher Guest meets Halloween. I did a post on it last year and I'll probably rerun it sometime next week:

Love this film. Wonderful stuff. A couple of other sleepers that I love are Cash Back, Living in Oblivion and Prince of the City.

Gosh haven't watched this one in years. Definitely one to send to the top of the Netflix queue.

I think Mamet's "The Winslow Boy" didn't get nearly enough accolades upon its initial release and certainly deserves to be rediscovered. (HEIST and SPARTAN are worth a second look as well)

I look forward to checking out Local Hero.

As for "sleepers":
Some of my favorites include the quirky yet slightly dark Joe Dante and Tom Hanks film, The'burbs (1989).

Also the hard sci-fi/drama Primer (2004) by Shane Carruth using an estimated $7,000 for budget.

Been ages since I saw Local Hero. I remember not quite being into it -- perhaps it was too studied for me at the time.

Some of my sleepers:
Breaker Morant
The Mosquito Coast
The Duellists
Zelig
Once a Thief
King of Comedy

And definitely Spartan. Glad to see someone else mention it. I think it's one of the best spy thrillers ever made.

YES! This has been on my top 10 list ever since it came out! What a marvelous, deftly crafted experience! I have a hard copy of the scrip, which I keep as a hallowed artifact in my study, stacked snugly up against Shane Black's THE LAST BOY SCOUT. Thanks for bringing it out for some fresh discovery and reconnecting within the GITS community.

The other sleeper I always champion, also on my top 10 list, is BEING THERE. In the same general vein of tone/taste/Celtic setting as LOCAL HERO, but not nearly as big in concept, is ONCE. There, the locals also steel the show. THE COMMITMENTS is another related treat, in that sense, too.

Sorry guys, for the density of typos in the above post...LOCAL HERO is just that kinda good and gets me really excited just thinking about it. Talk about a character arc for Paul R's character! His last scene will rip your heart out with self-recognition, if you've ever been shown a glimpse of paradise, and then been whip-lashed back into reality.

Experience it!!!

Sh#* - meant Peter Riegert's character, MAC, when I typed "Paul R" above. Lo siento, amigos.

i studied Local Hero in a film course at one time. One of the visual elements that is so beautifully clear is the isolation of the oil man at the beginning -- glass cubicle and all --and his openness and warmth at the end.

I have many sleeper favorites, but one on my mind much lately is Walter Hill's STREETS OF FIRE.

How about "Saved!"? It's a teen dramady a la John Hughes... it's a send-up of religious fanaticism... it's funny and touching and defies expectations... Great cast, including Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker. Highly recommended.

Local Hero -- thanks for the reminder about this movie! Officially added to my Netflix queue.

Last year I did a similar post on 5 of the best movies you've never seen that's probably worth checking out.

Nobody's Fool, with Paul Newman. Great story, great cast.

Notes On a Scandal. With Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett.

Another for Local Hero.

So many good scenes to choose from. That one scene while in Houston where they're deciding on lunch and it turns out they only go to the vending machine. That's stuck with me forever.

This is such a great 'fish out of water' story as well. I watched it as a study for my first script about a kid from Brooklyn who goes to Ireland in search for his hermit-like uncle. Anyway, I've tried to find the script to read, so if anyone has it (or knows where I can find it), I'd love to read it!

I saw Local Hero when I was too young to get it all, but even then I loved it. Perhaps it's time to watch it again.

+1 for Spartan, one of Mamet's least flawed.

Josh! Streets of Fire! I Love its mise-en-scene and the whole ambience.

Scott, you make me want to do a writeup myself, but I'll just mention a few in brief for now:
Jeremy, minimalist teen romance drama. Proto-indie if you will.
The Paper Man, an Aussie miniseries about the rise of a Murdoch-esque mogul. (Haven't watched it for a while - might have aged.)
Nothing Left to Do but Cry, endearing cult comedy from Roberto Benigni & Masimo Troisi.
Cabaret Balkan, a fin-de-siecle style mosaic of characters across a disintegrating Belgrade.

Looking forward for the rest...