In a sentenceLaura needs a better husband; Julia Roberts could use a better script
Laura Burney (Julia Roberts) changes her name and appearance to escape her husband, Martin Burney (Patrick Bergin). As Sara Walters, she becomes a stranger in a small town, trying to put the marriage behind her. She wants a life in which Martin cannot reach her, but leaving does not remove her fear of him. The story follows Laura, Martin and Ben Woodward (Kevin Anderson) as Laura tries to keep her old life separate from the new one. Her changed identity offers a way to begin again, provided she can remain a stranger to the man she has left.
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Julia Roberts gives this brisk thriller a reason to care, but Joseph Ruben settles for contrivance too readily. The suspense works often enough; the thin treatment of domestic abuse is harder to accept.
Sleeping with the Enemy is a watchable thriller with a persuasive lead and a disappointingly shallow treatment of the danger she faces. Joseph Ruben takes a frighteningly simple wish seriously enough to get us interested: Laura Burney wants to get away from her husband. Changing her name and appearance ought to offer plenty to explore about fear and survival. The film soon becomes preoccupied with keeping her in danger, leaving little time to consider what starting again might cost her.
Julia Roberts gives Laura enough vulnerability to make that shortcoming matter. We felt anxious for Laura as she changed her name and appearance simply to escape her husband. Having to abandon so much of herself makes her situation frightening before the thriller has much work to do. The performance sustains our concern even when the plot begins asking us to accept too much for the sake of another threat.
Patrick Bergin makes Martin Burney unpleasant enough to justify Laura’s fear, and there is some pleasure in an actor committing this fully to a villain. But the performance also exposes how little the film wants to understand about him beyond his capacity to frighten. Ronald Bass’s screenplay gives us a husband to dread without much psychological detail. That serves the immediate suspense, though it makes the treatment of abuse feel thin.
John Lindley’s cinematography gives the film a sleek finish that can make its subject oddly comfortable to watch. Doug Kraner’s production design contributes to that polished appearance, and the surroundings sometimes seem more carefully considered than the people occupying them. The visual control is assured, though the tidiness becomes a problem when the story asks us to consider Laura’s distress. Her changed identity and small-town life ought to feel uncertain; the polish makes the whole business seem rather too manageable.
George Bowers keeps the 99-minute film moving, which helps when the premise starts asking for more indulgence than it has earned. The cutting gives us little time to dwell on the contrivances, but they remain apparent. Jerry Goldsmith’s music supplies a useful measure of unease, although it sometimes seems to be doing emotional work the writing has neglected. There is enough forward movement to keep us watching, even when the characters need more attention.
As a domestic thriller, the film has a strong reason to frighten us before it has done much at all. A woman trying to escape her husband needs no elaborate explanation, and a new name cannot by itself make her safe. Ruben relies heavily on that initial concern, then accepts plot turns that make the threat feel arranged for our entertainment. The difficulty is not that the film wants to provide suspense, but that it becomes so incurious about the woman supplying it.
Those coming for a brisk thriller may find the performances sufficient reason to stay. There is enough conviction in the acting to make the weaknesses frustrating rather than merely forgettable. Anyone looking for a convincing account of a survivor beginning again should be cautious: the film has considerably more patience for putting her in danger.
The reviews lean negative on Sleeping with the Enemy, though its ability to generate suspense earns some credit across the divide. Praise centres on the performances in the more favourable accounts: Julia Roberts gives the heroine emotional depth, while Patrick Bergin makes a threatening villain. Variety is the strongest supporter, finding a streamlined, effective thriller that builds sympathy for its endangered heroine. Even some detractors acknowledge watchability and moments of tension.
The spread is wide, with disagreement extending beyond the thriller mechanics to the handling of abuse. Reservations cluster around contrivance, lightweight suspense and a lack of psychological depth. The Los Angeles Times offers the sharpest dissent, finding that the sleek melodrama sacrifices realism and judging Roberts’s portrayal of a damaged survivor bland. The central split is over whether the suspense and performances compensate for the thin treatment of the subject.
The review finds the film an effective, streamlined thriller that generates strong sympathy for its imperiled heroine. It particularly praises Julia Roberts’ layered performance and describes Patrick Bergin as chillingly twisted.
Read the full review →The page identifies a review of the specified film, but its contents were blocked. The critic’s verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be verified.
Read the full review →Ferguson finds the thriller effective, though it does not reach the scare factor of the director’s earlier work. He praises Julia Roberts’s performance and Patrick Bergin’s relish for the villainous role.
Read the full review →The review is negative about the film’s thriller mechanics. It singles out the contrived premise as a weakness.
Read the full review →The critic dismisses the film as a silly, lightweight thriller that trivialises its subject. He gives some credit to the suspense during the dark-house stalking, but complains about its cheap final scare.
Read the full review →Benson finds the film sleek and watchable but ultimately empty, arguing that its melodrama sacrifices the novel’s realism and psychological depth. She especially criticizes its shallow treatment of abuse and Julia Roberts’ bland portrayal of a damaged survivor.
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GaslightAnother marriage built on fear, with sharper attention to psychological control.
The Invisible ManA woman’s fear of her partner becomes sustained, carefully organised suspense.
The Night of the HunterDomestic menace made frightening through space, shadow and an unnervingly persuasive villain.
PhoenixA changed identity and a damaged marriage receive far more patient scrutiny.
Alice, Darling · not reviewed yetA quieter account of coercive control, attentive to the difficulty of leaving.
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