Before I Go to Sleep (2014)

A satisfying, keeps-you-guessing thriller. While amnesia is certainly not the most original of plot devices, there's something unique here in terms of truly portraying the emotional, daily hell an amnesiac and loved ones must suffer. This is aided, by no small means, by strong performances by Colin Firth and especially Nicole Kidman.

The plot definitely has suspense and there are sufficient twists and turns to ensure that you truly can not predict the outcome. There's also a nice combination of languid pacing intermixed with truly jarring and lurid scenes. In some ways this had a dream-like (or, take your pick, nightmarish) quality in tone.

A few plot holes make themselves known by the movie's end, but when a thriller ushers you out the theater door while still meditating on memory, marriage, and trust...I'd say that's a job well done.

Fmovies: The plot of the film is similar to 50 First Dates, where a woman wakes up each morning forgetting everything that happened in her past after her accident that caused the amnesia. However, the film does a good job keeping the audience guessing who is real and who the true villain is until the very end. There were a few times that my jaw was on the ground, eyes were wide, I grasped the seat and stopped breathing when a new plot twist appeared. The trailers for this film do not do it justice. I was completely entertained and enjoyed the film.

There is only one sex scene, no nudity, but there are a few brutal violence scenes as well as some strong language in this film. I would not recommend this film for young viewers. The film is only 90 minutes, but it moves fast and new things are revealed throughout the film. I would not recommend leaving the film once it starts as you may miss a key scene.

I agree with the reviewer who wrote that this was "three quarters of a very good film." The cast is marvelous. Kidman brings movie queen presence and guarded vulnerability to her role, as only she can. The icy, remote, sparse atmosphere of the film is noteworthy, but somehow creates a detachment from the raw emotions of the story. The plot unfolds in an efficient, generally satisfying manner. However, the film is sober, where it should have been flamboyant, and safe where it might have been edgy. In the end, I was wishing this had been filmed with panache, by a stylish and adventurous director. Atmosphere and character developments might have been richer and more complex. As it stands, it is a solid, classy, well-acted potboiler.

Before I Go to Sleep fmovies. Overview: Clever, emotional, Kidman in her 40's is a totally different actress (hopefully she'll get a role that will become a classic).

If you've seen 50 First Dates and Momento then you will have this movie pretty much figured out in the first 15 minutes or so. However that said it still manages to leave you just as uncertain about what's going on along with Kidman's character until the reveal. Careful observation will give you the clues though. The plot is clever and as you'd expect Colin Firth acts superbly and Mark Strong is also very good as the Doctor. As for Nicole Kidman I must confess age has done her wonders, gone is that teenage look that may have prevented here being taken seriously for "heavy" parts. The Others was a bit wooden (although the character did require that in fairness), Australia would have benefited from Nicole's more mature look. She is excellent, pulling you in to her confusion and roller coaster of emotions she goes through with each day and set of new facts she finds out. I really enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a clever thriller without the pointless need for tons of special effects.

DON'T read spoilers, they really will ruin the film for you.

In a very real way, our memories are who we are - our identities as individuals depend in an almost terrifying way upon our ability to remember what we do (and what we've done), why we do it, and whom we love. That's why the notion of memory-making (and losing) looms so very large in the art we create. In the cinematic realm alone, characters whose memories are sorely compromised have starred in thrillers (Memento), romantic comedies (50 First Dates) and weepies (The Notebook). Before I Go To Sleep, based on the novel by S.J. Watson, is a chilling if not entirely effective blend of family drama and thriller, trading on the heartache and horror that comes with losing oneself every single day.

Christine (Nicole Kidman) wakes up every morning with no memory of the last fifteen years of her life. Ben (Colin Firth), the stranger who shares her life and bed, informs her that he is her husband and that she lost her ability to make new memories after a bad car accident several years ago. Any attempt to forge lasting memories seems futile - and yet, Christine tries. She receives a phone call from Dr. Nasch (Mark Strong), a neurologist who assures her that they've been working to improve her condition. He reminds her that she's been keeping a video diary every day: one that, upon review, suggests that Ben is not telling her the whole truth about their shared life and history.

It's to writer-director Rowan Joffe's credit that he mostly manages to make a very personal - and inevitably repetitive - journey of discovery both cinematic and chilling. As Christine awakes each day with her memory reset, Joffe finds inventive and intriguing ways to ramp up the spinetingling alienation she feels from her own life and husband. He captures Christine's terror, doubt and paranoia in the shuddery footage she takes of herself while hidden away in the bathroom from a husband she doesn't recognise. As the wheels within the narrative spin and turn, Joffe's camera makes villains and heroes out of everybody: Ben, in particular, shifts from one to the other on an almost daily basis, as Christine doubts and then trusts the love this man must have for her to stay by her side for so many years.

Unfortunately, Joffe can't quite sustain the tension throughout - the film sags noticeably in parts, as Christine flounders miserably between very few choices. There are many twists, as she uncovers people and secrets in her past that will inevitably disappear from her grasp within a day, including a final doozy of a revelation. But Joffe winds up wasting much of this tension and intrigue with an oddly definitive ending. In a film filled with questions, doubts and uncertainties, it feels completely out of place and emotionally untrue.

Joffe's cast, at least, is unreservedly excellent. Kidman delivers her most fascinating performance in ages, one that's equal parts vulnerable and strong. Her Christine is very much a victim of her circumstances - and possibly her husband - but Kidman skilfully imbues her with a steely determination to reclaim her life and identity against very poor odds. Firth, too, is fantastic, shading both light and darkness into his trademark charm - enough to make us believe that he's the kind of man who could love and/or betray Christine with all of his heart.

It's a shame, then, that the final frames of the film don't live up to its promise or potential. Joffe has hit upon something truly unnerving with his premise: Christine's condition provides the

A badly scripted and directed mishmash in which Kidman, Firth and Strong act brilliantly but can't overcome the dreadful limitations of what's put before us. Suspension of disbelief just doesn't happen for this viewer. Can a chemistry teacher afford a house this plush (in London yet)? Who does the shopping, cooking, cleaning? How come over four years there's zero interaction with neighbours or any of the people one encounters daily in real life? In every scene I found myself thinking "hang on, but...". You just can't get away with this kind of situation as if the rest of the world doesn't exist. Striking example of the problem: the scene when Kidman goes to Firth's school. He's clearly truly a chemistry teacher there. Wouldn't the other staff (if not the kids, too) know the situation, with so many years gone by since the incident that left Kidman amnesic? Sorry: when things just don't wash, the hogwash sensation rears its head, and a thriller like this can't survive the hogwash sensation. The whole thing looks inappropriately sumptuous (fault of direction, sets and cinematography) and overall it just induces irritation instead of enthralment. The plot twists are crashingly predictable. Amnesia is strongly recommended for those who bother to watch this pedestrian film.