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One of the worst movies I've ever seen

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I saw this on VHS rental (after it left theatres)The acting is good, no doubt. I found the story difficult to follow, because I hadn't read the book.There were several things in the movie I admired. Her breaking a light to show herself where their beach-house was after dark was clever. The explanations of her mother "dying" and finding out her mother was simply moved was interesting. (Now, after going through seniors housing applications, I see how little reality is shown in that part) JR acting was very good, as always.Until reading these reviews, I hadn't realized the bedroom scene was a "rape". Her arranging the pantry and the towels in a panicky manner certainly showed that the consequences for not doing so were likely dire. I didn't realize about the beach-house seldom being used until after her leaving.There were also things I wasn't impressed with: the husband's quick finding of her. The "big reveal" of the cupboard, showing her that she's been found. Him permitting her to call the police, her telling the police that she just killed an intruder, and his realizing what she just said. After her leaving, the movie does become rather clunky.I might be the only one who noticed, but the similarity in the appearance of Patrick Bergin and Tom Skeerit is just gross. (Tom Skeerit played Drum Eatenton in "Steel Magnolias": Shelby's father.) So, because of the appearance similarity, it seemed incestuousI think it's a good enough movie that I'd like to find the book it's drawn from.I've only seen it the once, but it does stand out in my memory as a clunky movie. Which is really too bad, I think Ms. Roberts deserves better.

Nancy Price is a spell-binding writer who knows how to dodge every Hollywood cliché, as well as any happy ending Hollywood can imagine. Whatever you say about this film you got to admit it overflowed with clams at the box office. It is a good psychological thriller about an abused wife who gets revenge on her abusive husband and a story about men who treat women horribly ,then go to bed with them! Martin's beach front house is Big and Luxurious and one very beautiful beach front property near the sea that is trouble in paradise for Laura (Julia Roberts). First, it has a beautiful haunting score by Goldsmith. Next it has Roberts: beauty and talent. Her facial expressions tell the story. Martin looks at her, she smiles back. Martin turns away she sinks to near tears. It's hard not to feel for her. Roberts is an emotional communicator. Also you've got to give Bergin's acting some credit as a an effective mental case. His flat formal language and flying fist tantrums makes the viewer wonder what is next. He is one scary iceman. He tries for complete control of Laura, her dress, her cupboard, her bathroom towels. Laura is pretty well trapped by this beast. I think about the character Laura and find it very troubling that a woman being bullied can feel hopeless and unable to find help. Some have suggested Laura simply get a restraining order. I think a restraining order wouldn't even slow him down: not a man like that.Despite is amateurish failings, "Sleeping with the Enemy" was a huge hit. "Sleeping With the Enemy" is definitely watchable if you have a couple of hours to spare and if you can suspend disbelief and just sit back and enjoy it for the cheesiness of it and the 'easy on the eye' aspect. A great insight to how domestic violence can be at this extreme and how difficult it would be for the wife to escape the violence the amount of planing it would take and the time this would take while still being in extreme danger. The is a great film worth watching time and time again.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

I enjoyed this movie on a few levels, and there where things that I found totally unbelievable. The story line is basic: an abused woman who flees from her abuser, the enemy, who happens to be her husband. I picked up something watching a second time. It was when the abused woman (Julia Roberts) calls her mother who was blind and in a care facility. The main character said she had a job and was making her own money. It made me think that possibly the reason she may have remained in the abusive relationship was because she didn't know if she could make it on her own (support herself) without him. She was young and beautiful, but basically uneducated. She is wined and dined by a rich, handsome, powerful man (a policeman) that she marries, thinking he was her prince charming and she his princess. His OCD and lack of ability to view her as a human but only as a possession means a horrible existence for her, filled with fear, as he beats her and completely controls every aspect of her life. She plans her escape and waits for the opportunity, and then it presents itself. Here is where the plot begins to become unbelievable to me. When the impromptu opportunity arises, and time is of her essence for her to make her escape, she takes the time to cut her hair, change her clothes, throw her wedding ring in the toilet, and basically leave a ton of clues that she didn't perish the way he was going to think she perished.This is possibly her once in a lifetime opportunity to get away from this monster and she risks it by taking time at their home doing things that could easily have waited. Of course, she finds a love interest in a town far away. But I think the movie failed to really show the fall-back of women who have been abused for years. I think it would have been much harder that they portrayed it and I think she would have looked over her shoulder for years, possibly always. Forget about sitting on the front porch so soon after she escaped. I also didn't believe the mother daughter relationship. Maybe it was her grandmother and I missed it? Anyway, it lacked believability. And even though the mother didn't know the husband, she did know her daughter had to show up in male disguise to see her and had flown for her life and still harboring fear of being recognized and it getting back to him somehow. As a mother, I would have been way too hesitant to talk to someone who just showed up in my room asking questions about my kid without knowing exactly who I was speaking with. This mother just handed up the info and every detail to the psycho husband. Yes, I know she couldn't see him, but she knew enough about the situation to have been on guard.Lastly, in the final scene when she calls the police to report she had just shot an intruder, why not simply say the truth. She had just shot her husband? Ben was there to back things up (albeit he had been knocked out by the husband). Was this abused woman ever going to get her real identity back now? I thought this could have been much better by being more realistic.

This contains spoilers. I am a woman. I like this movie. However, something struck me when I watched it for the first time in years, last night. While I understand that it's supposed to be empowering to abused women, Julia Robert's character is a cowardly liar. She's depicted as a poor, beautiful princess being imprisoned by a cruel domineering man. So why didn't she leave him before the first bruises faded? She obviously married someone she didn't really know (who DOES that, by the way?) and from the looks of their setup, she married him for the money. Instead, she lies to him about her mother's death, creates an elaborate scheme to run away from her problems, rather than facing them, endangers her mother, endangers her new boyfriend (adultery anyone?), is lying to the federal government... the list goes on. But she's supposed to be a strong female character?? Then, when her husband, who obviously is suffering from OCD, or some similar mental illness, comes hunting her down, she provokes him, then murders him. I think it's safe to say that this movie fails as a feminist piece (just because her husband was a mean bastard and she kills him, does not justify her lack of integrity), but is, nevertheless an entertaining bit of Hollywood fluff.Cheers.