Before I go to Sleep

British version of an Adam Sandler film

Ever watch 50 First Dates think that, with a mystery tie in. We follow Christine (Nicole Kidman), a forty year old woman who wakes up everyday with no knowledge of the past fourteen years. She is helped to remember her life by husband Ben (Colin Firth). She begins to not trust Ben fully, and starts seeking the answers to her past life with the help of Dr. Nash (Mark Strong). As she uncovers the answers behind her amnesia we begin to think she might not be able to trust anyone, including herself.

Amnesia is the end all be all fall back for a dramatic storyline. It is the most overused trope in comics, cinema, books, and really every medium of creative entertainment has beaten this dead horse more than I care to mention. 50 First Dates took the overused hook and twisted it into a thought provoking idea, while adding in bits and pieces of comedy mixed with romance, making it a significant point in Adam Sandler's varied career. This movie tried what it did in a completely straight face, mystery/thriller way, and made me dislike the premise entirely.  The whole point to a mystery is for me not to see the ending coming, and let's just say I called it after thirty minutes and the entire effect of the movie was awash on me. I guess it could have tried to get me to enjoy the ride in some other way, but they were seriously banking on the audience not being able to see the ending coming. I was going through the different ways I would have improved on the ending, and I found out that the characters were so bland it would have been dead on delivery any way you could take it. Let's make no mistake here, this movie is boring. Not boring in the way you can find interest in the subtleties of the direction, or story telling, boring in the way that you can't understand how people would like this. Boring in the way that I almost fell asleep midway through, because I knew how it ended so why put myself through it anymore. I could derive zero pleasure from the story here, and I take no pride in saying that I begrudgingly kept my eyes open through the running time in an attempt for this movie to at least seem somewhat worth it. Unfortunately, I feel that my money, and more importantly my time was wasted on this low rate garbage of a story line. This is not a movie, this is what movie's desperately strive not to become.

The direction here is another thing that left a stain on my brain, but it was more just the style than anything. I know there are many directors that you can identify based purely on their styles. J.J. Abrams has lens flare, Tarantino has round table discussions, Rowan Joffe apparently has unnecessary close ups and still shots of inanimate objects. There are a lot of meaningless shots that try to make the scene more tense, or meaningful; and this kind of direction only appeals to a certain crowd. He doesn't appeal to the "film is art" crowd like myself because he tries to hard to be an artist. Sure, some of the shots are good, but there are more unnecessary shots than good ones here.  Why do I need to spend so much time looking at Kidman's reaction? Why do I need to spend so much time looking at Kidman waiting? Why do I need to spend so much time in the overly bloodshot eye of Kidman when she first wakes up? I get it, this an intense moment, you don't need to beat me over the head with your failed attempts at making more intense.

The one good thing I can say about this piece is that the acting was amazing, but we could see that just with the attached cast. The only wild card that could make or break the experience was the center piece. I know it seems like I have an ax to grind against Nicole Kidman, but I promise you that I don't, she is just the most hit or miss actress in the world. She has about four or five movies where I have said she was great, but everything else is just okay. This movie was another piece where she did just okay; not horrible by any means, but I have definitely seen better. On the other hand, Mark Strong and Colin Firth killed it here. It is no surprise when you see their pedigree, but it is still worth noting that they were phenomenal.

Final Verdict: Pirate it The only thing saving this movie from being a complete waste of time was the strong performances put forth by some of the cast. You could easily skip this movie and rest easy, but if you are genuinely curious I suggest not giving money to the production.