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1Reviews and everything / Sleeping with the Enemy critical review

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Bowling for Columbine ★★★

Director: Joseph Ruben

Starring: Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson

Running Time: 99 min

Year: 1991

Country: USA

Awards: the BMI Film Music Award

Commonplace, pessimistic and disturbing, Sleeping with the Enemy deals with the issue of spousal battery. It reveals disturbing evidence that family relationships can sometimes be menacing. Silent and pernicious, the secret of this kind of relationship is intimate and brutal. It shows a complex web of emotional manipulations and physical intimidation. At the heart of the abuse cycle is the husband’s desire to control and manipulate the victim, be present not only in her life day and night but also in her every thought.

The opening scenes of the film are very powerful showing a beautiful morning on the coast suggesting that the life of the woman picking shells on the seashore Laura Burney (Julia Roberts) whom we see as the film starts off should be just as beautiful, cloudless and tranquil. To some extent, it is so because Laura has everything any woman would want – a handsome husband, luxurious life and a future where she does not have to worry about anything. As we later find out, a future where she is not allowed to worry or think about anything. And the fact that Laura is picking shells does not suggest carefree life. On the other hand, it means that she is trying to get the pieces of her life together, as in jigsaw puzzle. Her husband Martin (Patrick Bergin) appears gracious, warm and congenial but he is hiding his real identity. In fact he is rancorously jealous, he is an abusive and possessive husband who started mistreating his wife right after marriage. Laura realises that being married to this man is worse than imprisonment since Martin has very strict standards on her and inflicts injuries on her every time she does not do something perfectly. But every time her husband beats Laura, he attempts reconciliation and pleads forgiveness. To add insult to injury, Martin not only slaps her across the face, but also sexually harasses her. It seems that control is ingrained into his personality.

Laura is tired of waiting on her husband hand and foot haltingly and tearfully and decides to start all over, make a new beginning. She is wary of addressing the police since she knows that Martin will never let go of her. But she gives it a shot and fakes her own death by drowning. She starts a new life in Iowa to be closer to mother whom she had taken away before having told her husband she died since she knew she would try to escape from her husband and it would be unsafe to leave her mother in the nursing home. So, Laura musters the courage to start a new life. She learns to trust people, especially her next-door neighbour, a drama teacher played warmly by Kevin Anderson. Ben represents an ideal husband. He is kind, caring, patient, he helps Julia Roberts to rebuild her shattered belief in men and not to feel alone and isolated. And if Martin represents the evil and fear in Laura’s life, Ben is a symbol of hope and belief. Everything seems to be getting back to normal, Laura gets a job thanks to her neighbour. Her present seems so peaceful and we see some beautiful and quiet imagery of the life in a small American town. However, Laura is unsure about her future, she feels embarrassed and ashamed to start a new life.

And her fears materialise right in front of her. Martin discovers the deception and does everything he can to find his wife. He discovers that her mother is still alive, tracks her down and eventually finds out where Laura lives. An old formula is being exploited in the film that the victim can run but it cannot hide. Bergin is a monster whose domestic neatness is his trademark – this can easily be seen from the fact that everything had to be in the cottage at Cape Cod. But would Bergin himself, intending to track and kill, take the time to rearrange the kitchen shelves? It seems unlikely. However, not so, not unlikely in the film. There is only one reason for him to do that: So Roberts can discover that the shelves are rearranged, and the movie can provide us with a cheap little shock.

The audience must realise that the story described in the movie is typical for thousands, if not millions of family. The scenario described is a typical one: first the husband tears apart his wife’s support network by pushing friends and family away. Then he takes control of a woman’s psyche by keeping the woman in fear and check. Terror and brainwashing reign in the family. Naturally, the victim would feel isolated, physically and mentally exhausted. Being financially dependant, the victim also risks serious injury and sometimes even death. It becomes very difficult for her to rebuild her shattered self-esteem. True, there are law enforcement agencies and courts to protect her, but the protection orders and restraining orders are not bulletproof. Besides, there is this mental trauma that is extremely difficult to recover from. So the women who break though can be considered as really brave women.

However true to life, this film is supposed to be a psychological thriller and I am saying supposed to be because it does not seem like one. At all. Although the plot tries to reflect real life, we must also bear in mind that it was also created to make money, so the idea and the way it was carried out seems somewhat contrived and one-sided. What solutions does it offer really? Basically, what is does is it actually tells us that the law cannot change the situation and that it helpless. Many men and women can get this idea and look for the solution to the problem that Julia eventually finds – to kill her obsessive husband. This is really worrisome and disturbing. One can argue that the ending is a happy one because the villain is punished but we do not know what will happen to the victim. Will she be able to start a new life, will she be able to live happily after murdering a person? How much hostility will this death cause within herself?

However odd it may seem but I like Martin saying that you cannot run from your fears. I believe you have to face them. By facing them I mean making the right choices and never ever getting yourself into this kind of relationship. Of course not everybody is strong enough for that but you have to try and do your best.

For Julia Roberts this is the first big starring role since "Pretty Woman". I do not think I can fully understand why she agreed to play in it because such a film can only hurt her reputation. Perhaps she wanted to prove to others and, mostly, to herself that she was not just a cute smile and beautiful legs but she was a real actress who could perform splendidly. I believe that she has done a great job. Julia Robert’s acting, as well as Patric Bergin’s and Kevin Anderson’s is what saves the film from being a complete fiasco. And nobody in the movie can be blamed for doing their best.

Alex Kvartalny @ flamedragon27.blogspot.com

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