Director: Rowan Joffe
By Alex Watson
It is unimaginable to consider forgetting your entire life, the loving memories of people that we have known over time are the ones we treasure most. This idea has been explored in cinema before as individual attempt to piece their existence back to together. Rowan Joffe this week gives us his demonstration of a woman attempting to shape her memory once again but forever finding horrific clues in his adaptation of S. J. Watson's novel Before I Go To Sleep.
Since a terrible accident 10 years previously, each morning Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman) wakes up with no memories of her prior life and has to be reminded by her husband Ben (Colin Firth) of the last decade. But one morning she gets a call from neurosurgeon Dr Nasch (Mark Strong) who has apparently been treating her. Slowly Christine begins to realize that her past maybe more surrounded in secrecy than she realizes.
Before I Go To Sleep is a thriller than despite some neat visual touches by director Rowan Joffe fails to break any new ground. This whole idea of amnesia and someone having to patch the cracks together has been done to death before, Joffe's strives to be better than its finished product- but you can't escape that this is more or less an British attempt at making the new Memento! Initially the mounting suspicions provide some decent early tension, but this soon dissolves into your standard friday night thriller.
From the outset there is a lack of suspense surrounding events and neither Joffe or the talented cast can ignite the spark that is badly needed. Each morning when Christine's memory empties yet again, we do wonder what each new day will bring as the clues become more ominous. As a central character, Christine is a vulnerable and lovable soul, but she is also a rather bland one that fails to raise any kind of significant characterization. Her husband Ben and the seemingly well intentioned Dr Nasch make for interesting male sparring partners and provide some nervous yet loving moments.
Sadly even though the guessing game is at times a moderately entertaining one, Before I Go To Sleep can't recover what is undoubtedly a predictable and rather flat conclusion. After coming on this journey we are given the ending that in our minds we probably guessed from the moment that she woke up! Joffe is a talented director and is showing signs of his father Roland's early promise but he will need to raise his game about average thrillers like this to be effective.
Nicole Kidman's performance is one firing element of the movie and as Christine she brings about a great sense of fragility. With her crystal blue and permanently suspecting eyes, Kidman demonstrates her ability to elevate beige characters to an acceptable level. Colin Firth and Mark Strong are both compelling in their roles but are not given nearly enough decent material to work with. Strong in particular is stranded as the confidante and is required to do little other than sound reassuring throughout.
Sadly despite its yearning to be something outside the box, Before I Go To Sleep is left with a distinctly ordinary feeling to it. Joffe may one day pull something remarkable out of the hat, but it will not be with this piece.
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