Another based-on-a-book, and this one I’ve actually read. Before I Go to Sleep came out a couple years ago, got some hype. Personally I thought the book was just ok, and the film kept pretty close to the original material, so it too was just ok.
The movie stars Nicole Kidman as Christine, a Memento-style amnesiac who can’t make short term memories, due to an attack several years ago. She is cared for by her husband Ben, played by Colin Firth. Every morning she wakes up not knowing who he is, and he explains to her what has happened before going to work and leaving her home alone. What he doesn’t know, is she is seeing a doctor while he is away. Her doctor calls every morning after Ben has left, telling her where to find a video diary she has been keeping (and hiding from Ben) to catch herself up on what they’ve been working on, an attempt to recover past memories. As the movie plays out, you see Ben has been hiding certain things from her, though the extant and reasoning is left unclear till the end.
As psychological thrillers go, it isn’t terrible, but it does resort to cliché gimmicks and over-the-top jump scares. The acting by Firth and Kidman is good, but the story has some holes and certain plot elements are rushed and not explored as much as you’d like. Whereas my previous movie Dear White People is the kind that critics love and average movie-goers might not, Before I Go to Sleep feels like the opposite, one that will be panned by the former group and mostly enjoyed by the latter.
Jons Movie Takes 