Certification. 15
Director. Rowan Joffé
Cast. Anne-Marie Duff, Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Mark Strong.
Rating. 55%
There is something to be said for a good old-fashioned, tense, taut, intelligent thriller. Sadly, these films are few and far between and the genre is over-populated with mediocre examples such as Roland Joffé's Before I Go To Sleep. The film admittedly offers an interesting (and disturbing) premise and is blessed with a strong cast, but Before I Go To Sleep lacks the flair and suspense required to elevate the film above numerous other run-of-the-mill thrillers.
Nicole Kidman plays Christine Lucas who - as a result of a traumatic incident - suffers from a rare form of amnesia. Each morning Christine wakes up and can't remember who she is, where she is and who the man lying asleep beside her is. And each morning, her husband, Ben Lucas (Colin Firth) must break the news about the car accident and the subsequent amnesia to Christine. Colin Firth dutifully recants the exposition with an equal measure of tenderness, patience and weariness. He clearly has shared this story with Christine many times before.
Nicole Kidman effortlessly epitomises the seemingly vulnerable woman perilously close to the edge, from a career that stretches from Dead Calm to The Killing Of A Sacred Deer. In Before I Go To Sleep the audience is in the exact same position as Christine - we are as much in the dark as she is. As I said, an interesting and disturbing premise, as it renders Christine defenceless. She is entirely dependent on other people, and yet she is unable to trust any of them. Director, Roland Joffé attempts to manipulate the audience's expectations of Colin Firth and Mark Strong, but with only two prominent characters, one of them has to be the villain of the piece.
Unfortunately, the temptation to compare Before I Go To Sleep to Memento is all too easy. In my opinion, Christopher Nolan's offering is a far more accomplished piece of cinema.
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