jerry@starfish.Convergent.COM (Gerald Hawkins) (04/09/91)
SLEEPING WITH ENEMY
[SPOILERS]
A film review by Gerald Hawkins
Copyright 1991 Gerald Hawkins
Let's face it--I saw this film just to see Julia Roberts. With
that out of the way, the film can be criticized. SLEEPING WITH THE
ENEMY can only be called "derivative." I can't think of any other word
that so accurately describes it. After the first twenty minutes--which
I found tense and intense--the film became highly predictable. There
were some moments of nice camera use--not enough to help. The dialog
was very spotty, ranging down to the absurd in a couple of scenes. In
one scene, Roberts sits down to a meal and has a conversation with "the
enemy" that almost makes the film laughable.
There are some Hitchcock-like elements in the film, but it covers
only one bit of territory Alfred didn't (domestic violence); actually at
times it seems as though the production is ripping off Brian DePalma,
who ripped off Hitchcock. I found myself thinking back to STRANGERS ON
A TRAIN at one point, VERTIGO at another, and in each thinking how I
would've rather seen those fine films again than this one the first
time. (Actually, I knew once I heard Robert's name in the
film--Laura--what was in store).
The only things I can say I really learned from the film are:
1. Don't keep the towels in your bathroom straight,
2. Julia Roberts has more teeth than anyone I've ever seen.
My rating would be an even 0 on the +4 to -4 scale. Immediately
after watching it, my rating would have been a generous 1, but with
reflection this movie can't even carry that rating.
jerry@starfish.convergent.com