Before I Go to Sleep

Overview: Clever, emotional, Kidman in her 40's is a totally different actress (hopefully she'll get a role that will become a classic).

If you've seen 50 First Dates and Momento then you will have this movie pretty much figured out in the first 15 minutes or so. However that said it still manages to leave you just as uncertain about what's going on along with Kidman's character until the reveal. Careful observation will give you the clues though. The plot is clever and as you'd expect Colin Firth acts superbly and Mark Strong is also very good as the Doctor. As for Nicole Kidman I must confess age has done her wonders, gone is that teenage look that may have prevented here being taken seriously for "heavy" parts. The Others was a bit wooden (although the character did require that in fairness), Australia would have benefited from Nicole's more mature look. She is excellent, pulling you in to her confusion and roller coaster of emotions she goes through with each day and set of new facts she finds out. I really enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a clever thriller without the pointless need for tons of special effects.

DON'T read spoilers, they really will ruin the film for you.

"Before I Go To Sleep" is an effective psychological thriller.

Nicole Kidman plays Christine Lucas, someone who if she saw "50 First Dates" wouldn't remember it the morning afterwards! She wakes as a forty-something 'housewife' in her suburban home every morning with Ben (Colin Firth) in bed next to her. However, she can remember little to nothing of the last twenty years.

She is being covertly helped on a pro-bono basis (with a trace of pro-boner thrown in) by UCL neuro-scientist Dr Nash (Mark Strong). Nash reveals that she ended up in this state after being severely beaten up and left for dead near a Heathrow hotel. He persuades her to maintain a video diary of the days' events and recollections, but he has to remind her where she's hidden the camera via phone every morning.

But Christine has a traumatic and terrifying past, remembered (and then immediately forgotten) in dreams, but which only very slowly starts to piece itself together during the waking hours. One character emerging from the mental mist is a long-time college friend Claire (James McAvoy's wife Anne-Marie Duff) who disappeared from her life under mysterious circumstances but is now 'found' again.

Will Christine piece together the jigsaw? What was she doing in the Heathrow hotel? Who beat her up and why? Where does Claire fit in? Can Mark Strong play anything other than a 'baddie'? So many questions, so little memory.

Produced by Ridley Scott and with Rowan Joffe ("28 Weeks Later") writing the screenplay and directing, the film is pleasingly set in and around a non-touristy London with some fine scenic shots - you can't really beat the view from the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and this nicely features in one scene. Nicole Kidman has a lot of acting to do in this role and she does it very well. Firth and Strong - two of my favourite actors - are both excellent and keep you guessing throughout. But of all of the acting roles I found Anne-Marie Duff particularly effective in the short-and-sweet role of Claire: a very powerful and touching performance.

It is tempting to describe any psycho-thriller as 'Hitchcockian', but there are moments where this film can certainly be tagged in this way. This is helped by a Bernard Herrmann-like score by Ed Shearmur, moody photography by Ben Davis and crisp editing by Melanie Oliver.

I enjoyed this film, but even with all of these positives it still felt more like a B-movie than an A-movie for reasons I can't quite sum up. In addition there were a few niggling plot points and, in my opinion, a slightly weak epilogue ending. Also note that, in a world where far too many women still face physical violence, there are flashback scenes in this film that some may find distressing, earning it its '15' UK certificate.

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The premise of Before I Go to Sleep is quite a good one. A woman wakes up each day with no memory beyond her early twenties; soon she begins to realise that some dark secrets are being hidden from her. It's sort of in similar territory to Christopher Nolan's early neo-noir Memento (2000), which was also a mystery/thriller about a character with a short-term memory loss condition. Like that one, here one of the interesting angles is that the central character has no idea if their friends really are friends or actually enemies. It's true that several aspects of the storyline require you to stretch your belief somewhat; however, many thrillers are similar in this respect, so this wasn't such a deal-breaker for me. The problem I essentially had is that while the idea may be pretty intriguing, ultimately the pay-off is somewhat mediocre and conventional. Piece by piece the puzzle is slowly unravelled but it doesn't end up presenting us with a picture that is very inspired or interesting and you sort of ask yourself 'is that it?'

"Tonight as I sleep, my mind will erase everything I know today"; The simple yet satisfying plot-line of this movie as spelled out by our lead protagonist in the opening scene is enough to draw anyone into this wonderful thrill ride of a film. Such a story-line sees the aforementioned central character (played by Nicole Kidman) slowly put back together the extremely complex puzzle that is her memory of the last 14 years, lost after an 'accident' involving a mystery perpetrator.

The plot, although clearly ludicrous when heard, somehow works remarkably well when experienced on screen. This is primarily down to the breakneck pace of the movie, never allowing audience members to get bored or have enough time to ponder the numerous plot holes noticed after the final credits. Not that this matters of course, as BIGTS is a picture to be enjoyed in the moment and at surface level.

Another of the film's major assets is the brilliant performances from the central three characters. Kidman is back on form, exasperating any memory of a certain picture that occurred sometime in the previous 14 years; Firth is excellent also as Ben, with Strong matching him in equal measures on levels of sinister and downright frightening unpredictability. Not only is such fantastic acting a joy to watch, it is another factor in helping the plot-line to be accepted without question by audiences who might think twice if only they weren't having so much fun.

As entertaining as the picture is, this isn't groundbreaking original stuff here, nor is it something that is terribly deep in content. However if you want to spend 90 odd minutes utilizing only the first third of your seat, then you're in for a treat.

I agree with the reviewer who wrote that this was "three quarters of a very good film." The cast is marvelous. Kidman brings movie queen presence and guarded vulnerability to her role, as only she can. The icy, remote, sparse atmosphere of the film is noteworthy, but somehow creates a detachment from the raw emotions of the story. The plot unfolds in an efficient, generally satisfying manner. However, the film is sober, where it should have been flamboyant, and safe where it might have been edgy. In the end, I was wishing this had been filmed with panache, by a stylish and adventurous director. Atmosphere and character developments might have been richer and more complex. As it stands, it is a solid, classy, well-acted potboiler.