Sleeping with the Enemy

Sleeping with the Enemy is possibly my favourite Julia Roberts film. It tells the story of Sara who is in abusive relationship with Martin played by Patrick Bergin. Finally she decides she needs to get out.

Patrick Bergin is truly menacing in his role as the controlling abusive husband, and Roberts is captivating in her role as his timid wife.

Though some parts of the story may not be believable. (like her departure) it still is an extremely emotional film to see what some people go through living with emotional, mental and physical abuse by partners whilst feeling trapped and living on eggshells.

This is truly a classic film and highly recommended.

I think most people tend to overlook how well-done the first 20 minutes of this movie really are. Ruben carefully builds a creepy atmosphere, relying on brief glances, moments of silence and quietly expressive performances (especially by Julia Roberts) to help the viewer understand that, behind the image of a perfect couple, something is really wrong. Unfortunately, after Roberts escapes from her husband, the movie turns into a strictly by-the-numbers thriller, where you can predict almost every development of the script. It's a visually polished movie, though, and the very good performances give it a strong psychological center that keeps it above-average.

Laura marries Martin Burney who appears to be the perfect man, he is handsome and successful, yet the dream of the perfect man becomes a nightmare as Martin is a control freak who abuses her both physically and mentally. Once she decides enough is enough she plots her escape by way of faking her own death by drowning, a new life beckons, but she will always be looking over her shoulder to see if Martin finds out the truth and tracks her down.

Thus the vehicle for Julia Roberts pans out as your just above average thriller. It has some decent moments that keep it from drifting into tedium, the set up perfectly portrays the double life that some people lead, on the social circuit it appears the couple are happy and at one with each other, yet behind their own walls there is violence and the crushing of the spirit. The final third of the film is also well worthy of the word thriller, for the tension is nigh on unbearable as we slowly come to the conclusion, whilst Julia Roberts as Laura does a very tidy job as this sort of modern day princess escaping the evil clutches of her keeper. Must mention the great use of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, it's eerie and impacts hard for the scenes it is used for.

Patrick Bergin plays his role well enough, it's just that his villainy is never fully realised, we see enough to know that what he does is wrong, yet it feels a bit too polished. Whilst a sequence that sees Laura dress up as a man is clearly the low point of the film, it really does stretch the viewers patience, and sadly insults their respective intelligence. It's a mixed bag that isn't quite a waste of time, it just doesn't leave you with anything other than a feeling of being semi fulfilled, shame as it could have been brilliant with a bit more bravery and brains in the script, 6/10.

Right off of the runaway success of Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts starred in Sleeping With the Enemy as a battered housewife who fakes her death to escape from her psychotic husband. She changes her name and starts a new life in a small town where everything seems to be better for her...until her husband discovers she's still alive.

Sleeping With the Enemy is fairly by the numbers as thrillers go. It's inoffensive and fairly predictable, but Roberts is incredibly likable in the leading role and director Joseph Rubin knows how to craft suspense which goes a long way in making the film work. Jerry Goldsmith's music score is lush and hauntingly beautiful.

Sleeping With the Enemy is the kind of movie you can relax on the couch with on a Saturday afternoon and it has a great rewatchable quality.

I have this movie on tape also. Come to think, I have a lot of Julia Roberts' movies. Anywho, I liked how she used her timidity to get the hell out of a crazy psyho relationship with a guy who thought he was entitled to beat his wife. She planned everything down to the T, and I liked that. However, you knew he was gonna find her again and wreak havoc on her new life. It grew a little wasteful at that point because the poor guy had only that abusive husband turned psycho side to play with. Not much to chew on really when you're in the movie about 5 times in 20 minutes. You understood she had to see him at least and the point was she had to move on and assert her independence. Sucks that psycho was rich with a nice pad. Plus, why didn't she just pawn the ring instead of attempting to flush hard gold down? Or take it with? Even a toilet isn't that stupid. Maybe she should have eaten it first and it would have been disguised better. I mean, that was the only thing that tipped him off for goodness sakes. She was smart to a point like most chicks in these types of movies. Guess there wouldn't be much of a movie otherwise.