The Sleeping Dictionary (2003)

I just recently watched this movie on IFC. And was pleasantly surprise when i first started watching it. But as it progressed, it just boggles me at the execution of it.

Firstly, commendable performance from Jessica Alba. I am from Singapore, and the setting is close to my heart. For an American, she has definitely convinced me that she was local. Her accent is shaky, but then again, what's the right accent? But i think she played the role well. The other actors however, feels pretty flat. No ups no downs.

Secondly, for the genre and the setting, this movie can be so much more. The script is very flat, the highs are not high enough, and the lows are not gripping enough. I do not feel for the characters, and I do not care for what this young British is going through.

Thirdly, I couldn't tell that this takes place in the Malayan archipelago until I was told so in the movie. It just seems so contrive, for the lack of a better word. I should be angry, I should feel sad, I should feel that this is the most unfair world to live in. Yet... All i could see is, Jessica Alba doing a great job.

I wish someone would re-write this screenplay, and add to this story, take away the crap that is completely unnecessary and make this as magical as it potentially could be.

Fmovies: 'The Sleeping Dictionary' directed by Guy Jenkin just came to a Video store in my neighborhood (February 2003). It is one of the best movies I have seen...I rate it in the top 10 on my list of Romance/Drama. This film has terrific director- ship, meaning that the plot moves smoothly, is highly coherent, and suspenseful with timely revelations. The acting is first class...you like who you are supposed to and don't. I enjoyed seeing a film with real settings...jungle scenes & environs. I look forward to seeing future Guy Jenkins films. Even the music is excellent: it is fully supportive but one doesn't notice it. This is about the best compliment I can give to a music score for a movie in the Romance/Drama category. (too many movies have distracting music or volume with effect that fogs the plot impact). There is some violence, upper nudity, harsh language and death issues so restrict your young viewers as per choice. 'The Sleeping Dictionary' is a video I will purchase. Very few directors achieve this level of perfection so I put this film in the Artistic Category, not simply Entertainment. Give Director Mr. Jenkins top awards, Members. Thank you, JW.

This movie was breathtaking to me. I figured it went straight to video since I never saw any previews for it. Jessica Alba is a favorite of mine anyway, so I have a bias I suppose. The movie was beautifully shot and the music was in great taste. I had never heard of sleeping dictionaries, so it was an interesting lesson. At first, Jessica didn't seem to fit the look of the other natives, but it made sense when she was mixed and I could see where her complexion played in. Her accent was surprisingly believable. Hugh was adorable as the sheepish "leader" of the community. It made all the sense in the world that they would fall for each other. I liked the angle of the British hypocrisy. It was alright to sleep with the people the ruled or "civilized", but not good enough to marry them or acknowledge the children they had with these people. It resonated with me because the same thing happened with slavery in America. I thought that angle was well played out. I do agree with some other users that they fell in love too quickly and they weren't together enough for the audience to see that dynamic. They spent far too much of the movie apart for it to be so dramatic and "love at all costs" type of love. It was weird that he left his wife who was pregnant for Selima, but I guess Cecil knew he wouldn't be happy with their little "family". I identified with her struggle to please her husband and hold onto him. Imagine that many wives of the colonialism era probably felt that way when their husbands desired not just another woman, but a woman they felt was inferior. It was a great movie. Watch it.

The Sleeping Dictionary fmovies. The puzzle is, why did this film go directly to video and why isn't it a better film?

Fineline apparently relegated this to the video bins because of a crowded release schedule, but more likely because it had just one American star in it, Jessica Alba, and her TV series, "Dark Angel," had been canceled, meaning she no longer brought any "heat" to the project.

That's a shame, because this film is light years better than most direct to video releases.

While the plot is quite complicated, it is basically about a young Englishman, played by Hugh Dancey, who goes out to Sawawak (Borneo) in the mid-thirties to follow in his father's footsteps and bring the benefits of a good English education to the natives and headhunters of the region.

He needs to pick up the language, though, and thus is assigned a "sleeping dictionary" a fetching young local woman who will teach him the native lingo, while giving him an education in bed at the same time. While that may sound as contrived a plot as you could find, it is probably grounded in fact, and certainly grounded in solid, British upper class hypocrisy of that day, which, taking into account the fact that he'll be there for three years, sees no reason why he can't avail himself of the local talent to satisfy his sexual needs. In fact, when he initially rejects the beautiful Jessica Alba, they offer him a young man, he being the product of British boys schools and all that.

After a very brief period of conflict, Dancey and Alba fall head over heels for each other, decide they want to marry, and find themselves in hot water from that point on. The film goes on to rightfully bash British upper class racial prejudice, but never quite deals with the key issue facing Dancey's character. Does he ever catch on that the education he wanted to bring to the natives is the same education that says, one Englishman is worth a thousand natives?

Anyway, the film, written and directed by Guy Jenkin, is fairly well scripted, well directed and absolutely beautifully shot. Word is, it cost just $15 million, but it has the look of a much more expensive picture, definitely not some cut rate direct to video thriller. This is not some prison women in cages film shot in the Philippines.

There are some good characterizations here. Bob Hoskins starts out very strong as the cynical governor of this province, but then is very under utilized. Brenda Blethyn is fantasic as Hoskins wife, a manipulative upper class snob who is the real villain of the story.

But there are script problems here. Dancey and Alba fall in love far too quickly, skipping over a lot of character build up which would have made us care for them a lot more than we wind up doing. There is sympathy for them, though, because of the obvious class and racial biases in the British empire. But you get the feeling there are a lot of missed opportunities here.

Perhaps the biggest flaw the film has are its two stars, though. Dancey,pretty much unknown in America, seems only adequate to me. He brings no real passion to the role of the young idealist.

The real enigma, of course, is Jessica Alba. Although as beautiful as any young actress in Hollywood today, she has yet to prove that she can actually act, and with every successive missed opportunity, she is building up a body of work that says maybe she can't. Her first feature staring role was in a flic called "Paranoid," in which she was frankly just plai

Although THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY is not that well known and never had a theatrical release, it is by far one of the best movies of 2002. My sister had to pursuade me to first rent, then watch this movie because the idea of a British colonial officer who falls in love with what is known as a Sleeping Dictionary...that is a native woman who sleeps with a man while teaching him the native language. Jessica Alba, who is most well known for her stint on "DARK ANGEL", deftly portrays Selima, the native sleeping dictionary for John Truscott. Hugh Dancy, who portrays John Truscott, is a young british actor who is on his way up. Dancy and Alba have chemistry, and you can hardly take your eyes off of them. The supporting cast is also excellent. Brenda Blethyn, Bob Hoskins, Emily Mortimer, Noah Taylor, Junix Inocian, and Eugene Salleh each portray their parts perfectly and add a unique flavor to the movie.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being lowest, 10 highest), I rate THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY a 10.

While overseas, I had heard the concept of the movie and the fact the appealing Jessica Alba was featured but had little chance to check on the actual film. When I returned to the USA late last year, I found the film had gone directly to video with limited availability (couldn't get it at Blockbuster, for instance). I am glad that I wound up buying a copy (although I found a 'used' DVD for half the new asking price).

It is a shame the film never appeared in theaters as the visuals of Sarawak would have been great on the large screen and the audio and music are well done and would have benefited from a theatrical environment.

BELOW IS DISCUSSION OF PLOT ELEMENTS WHICH MIGHT SPOIL IT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM.

While overall the plot line was reasonable and avoided cliche, there were a number of disconnects as far as I was concerned.

Truscott's dilemma with Bullard after the miners' slaughter arrives too abruptly and presumes some sort of offscreen confession. Since it is a central conflict in the drama, it really deserves more explanation.

Similarly, the "one year later" leap to Truscott's marrying Cecil Bullard lacked sincerity. Why would Truscutt marry the daughter of those who wedged him away from his true love? While one can imagine various possibilities, the lack of on screen justification left me unfulfilled.

Finally, even after conversion by Sarawak and its people, Truscutt is still too much of a proper Englishman to credibly leave a pregnant wife. Some of the sympathy I'd built up for the forbidden lovers was undercut by the way this was handled. It would have been far better for Cecil to push a reluctant Truscutt away.

Still, these plot issues are relatively small in comparison to a film, cast and cinematography that rose well above the small budget and unheralded distribution. I rarely buy videos or DVDs because I find I seldom go back to play them, but this one I will enjoy owning.