An average thriller that is stronger in its individual elements than it is in the sum of its parts, Rowan Joffe’s Before I Go to Sleep tells its twisty story well enough even if it does require some massive suspension of disbelief to allow the twists to work their ultimate shocks. A strong triumvirate of actors in the leads carry the day, and the movie is always watchable for their work even when logic breaks down after its big reversal about two-thirds of the way through the narrative.
Studio: Fox
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Rating:
Run Time: 1 Hr. 32 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray
keep case in a slipcoverDisc Type: BD25 (single layer)
Region: A
Release Date: 01/27/2015
MSRP: $29.99
The Production Rating: 3/5
Like previous thrillers such as The Usual Suspects and Memento which rely of recalling earlier events in piecemeal fashion, often with unreliable narrators or information that doesn’t always ring true, Before I Go to Sleep’s script by director Rowan Joffe (based on the novel by S.J. Watson) requires that the audience is willing to go anywhere with the director (even as in the case of this film but not so much with those others) having to disregard the sometimes ludicrous set-ups the film utilizes in order to put Christine in the predicament she’s in (no neighbors helping out, no one ever calling on the telephone except the doctor, Christine’s ignoring the computer which takes a prominent place in the office where the upstairs phone is). Putting those narrative problems aside for the moment, director Joffe does some nice placement of shocks and surprises throughout the narrative, and he intercuts brief glimpses of Christine’s memory as tiny fragments of her story return to her even to keep the viewer tantalized as to the truth of the stories she’s being told. As in the recent Gone Girl, the twist comes about an hour into the story, and once that surprise has been sprung, the director then ratchets up the tension as Christine finds herself in tremendous danger. For some this will mark the moment the film falls completely apart; for others, it will be a satisfactory introduction to Christine’s last act.
Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth each do excellent work in these roles, parts more complex than they initially seem (since, of course, there are many secrets that don’t come out until much later in the story, secrets which allow their characters to be much more multi-faceted). Mark Strong plays the role of the doctor very close to the vest, never quite giving any part of the film’s game away in a very outstanding performance for him. Anne-Marie Duff makes a most concerned friend of Christine’s while Adam Levy and Dean-Charles Chapman do well as late-appearing characters intimately a part of Christine’s story.
Video Rating: 5/5 3D Rating: NA
Audio Rating: 4/5
Special Features Rating: 2/5
Forget Me Not (2:26, HD): the three stars and director/writer Rowan Joffe offer some promotional remarks about the story and the characters.
Theatrical Trailer (2:07. HD)
Promo Trailers (HD): Gone Girl, The Best of Me, Hector and the Search for Happiness.
Ultraviolet: code sheet enclosed in case.
Overall Rating: 3/5
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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