Developed from S.J. Watson’s good-seller and the screenplay has been written by Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later, The American), Before I Go to Sleep can be viewed as a sequel to the concept of 50 First Dates — only in such case 50 First Dates would have to be re-imagined as a tense drama-thriller featuring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong. In this case the film concerns an amnesiac, Christine Lucas (Kidman), who rather slyly has a habit of waking each day without memory of the day that has just gone. As far as she knows, she’s in a flat account-deter twenty-something single. However, she is actually a married woman with children, aged 40.
Routine medication treatment usually consists of Christine’s husband Ben (Firth) coming in every morning and reintroducing Christine to herself while explaining her mental state is normal considering the circumstances of a traumatic event she has gone through – but Christine is not recieving the full picture. But, with the help of a neurophysiologist, Dr. Nasch (Strong), Christine gradually discovers her history little by little. According to Nasch’s advice, she also begins making video diaries, without Ben being aware of it. And there, the obvious question arises: Is there a particular man who has deceived Christine out of these men? And, perhaps more importantly, why?
In terms of execution, Before I Go to Sleep does quite well with the breathing of dangerous threats in the mystery section. The film’s masterstroke is the decision to cast Firth and Strong because those traditional expectations were paralleled casting wise – Firth the upright, bumptious leading man and Strong the heartless villian Lord Blackwood, Sinestro, Frank D’Amico and all. But here we have Firth playing a more sinister and heavier role and Strength on the other hand is relaxed with stillness and morality. Simply put, they are cast as against type.
But there is one thing about Before I Go to Sleep: It is turning the expectations on its head, over and over again. The question then arises, do you fall for Firth and Strong’s subversive cues or would they still be playing their archetypes? It is an intelligent piece of casting which makes sure you do not work it out, and that is aided by the two men’s subtle performances. In this regard, the story is effective and Joffe uses only as much of the creepy style as necessary to hide the story.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with Joffe’s script. As Christine learns more of her history, her situation becomes more plausible.,” she observes such possibly. Such is not the case as said. The mystery took Christine just a few weeks to snoop and attempt to solve it even with the help of many people, ‘breaking’ the boundary of the curtain barely. (The number of clues that have remained on the floor of the house really makes one to be amused.) They do find, however, that Christine is completely removed from any attachment to herself. While Kidman does an excellent impression of complete helplessness that comes with complete loss of identity, it also gives the negative effect of making her character appear very distant. Ultimately, Christine’s most tragic flaw (her amnesiac condition) also hinders the development of her character.
However, it is the last 20 minutes of the motion picture where their understanding ceases and all the rationale is thrown out of the window as Christine has the last chances of fitting the jigsaw puzzle; Ms. Lyman has trailed and confronted her antagonist. Apart from being inconceivably lowbrow and idiotic in nature, the ending is a palpable impossibility, too many things have already fallen into place. Fortunately, Before I Go to Sleep is straightforward enough that you would not dwell for too long concerning the flaws in the plot and brief enough leaves you not feeling cheated on time.
The Verdict
Central crime-thrillers look fruitful when a feedback is provided to the director. But Rowan Joffe’s before I go to sleep is a crime where every aspect defines a crime-thriller but this is understanding ‘before I go to sleep’ a tad occupationally too. There is one more twist in the whole story but, more than a twist, it is a stupid element to the plot, the so-called high concept of this film as one might call it.
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