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Blu-ray Review Before I Go to Sleep Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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Before I Go to Sleep Blu-ray Review

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 slipcover

Disc Type: BD25 (single layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 01/27/2015

MSRP: $29.99




The Production Rating: 3/5

Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman) is suffering from anterograde psychogenic amnesia, a malady caused by cranial abuse a decade or more before the events of this movie occur. It causes her brain to reset during sleep returning her to a complete blank page as to her identity and her past each morning. Her ever-patient husband Ben (Colin Firth) awakens with her every morning to help her through her initial refreshing of the basic facts of her existence, and then he’s off to work as a high school chemistry teacher. One morning, Christine answers the phone to hear the voice of Dr. Nasch (Mark Strong) who instructs her to retrieve a camera from hiding on which she’s been recording video about her daily memories for the past two weeks. With his help and by talking into the video camera the facts she’s uncovered, she’s able to progress more fully each day filling in the hazy blanks of her previous existence, recalling bits and pieces about a best friend Claire (Anne-Marie Duff), a possible previous affair, a child who had died, and even a divorce. Ben offers some explanations for her questions, but she finds she hasn’t been told the entire truth by anyone. So, can Christine trust any of these memories or Dr. Nasch or even Ben?

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

The film’s 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is faithfully rendered in this 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Sharpness is quite outstanding as details in facial features, hair, and clothes are consistently delivered. Color is strong and solid (some of the brief flashbacks ratchet up the color for a stunningly eerie effect), and skin tones are very true-to-life. Contrast is likewise consistently maintained. The film has been divided into 28 chapters.



Audio Rating: 4/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix has a strong frontal presence but doesn’t do great things with the rear channels, even when suddenly passing cars or instant revelations jar the viewer out of his chair. Dialogue has been superbly recorded and is always easily discernible in the front channel, and Edward Shearmur’s steady but occasionally nerve-jangling music occasionally dips effectively into the rears though is less immersive than one might have wished.



Special Features Rating: 2/5

Character Illusions (HD): three very brief vignettes in which the actors introduce their characters from the first part of the film. Nicole Kidman’s Christine (0:47), Colin Firth’s Ben (0:47), and Mark Strong’s Dr. Nasch (0:50) get a few soundbites each.

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

If you’re willing to disregard some annoying plot holes and suspend your disbelief over initial set-ups that seem peculiarly dim-witted, you may enjoy Rowan Joffe’s Before I Go to Sleep. The Blu-ray certainly offers an outstanding video representation of the movie, and the sound is solid if a bit underwhelming. For those who like tony thrillers with a twist, it’d be a decent Saturday night rental.


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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