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Sleeping with the Enemy [Region 2] | ![Sleeping with the Enemy [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51cFAxeIXwL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Joseph Ruben
Actors: Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson, Elizabeth Lawrence, Kyle Secor
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $23.87
Rating:  76 reviews
Sales Rank: 199246
Format: Pal
Languages: German (Original Language), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), German (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 0187108
EAN: 4010232007865
ASIN: B00005MFO1
Theatrical Release Date: February 8, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
This 1991 thriller by Joseph Ruben (True Believer) works up to a point: Julia Roberts plays an abused wife who fakes her death and starts anew under a different identity in Iowa. Her psychopathic husband (Patrick Bergin) figures it out and stalks her and her new boyfriend (Kevin Anderson). The best part of the film is the moody isolation of Roberts's life with Bergin. Ruben ingeniously stakes out the story by presenting what looks like an ideal life between the two--a nice house on the ocean, a seemingly healthy sex life, etc.--and then, whammo! Vital to the plot but less interesting is everything afterward, but that's less an inherent script problem than it is obvious studio pressure to push Roberts as a cute star. There's even a sequence where the actress tries on a series of hats while Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" plays on the soundtrack. Such insistent valentines to Roberts destroys most of Ruben's momentum and the film's credibility, and the project never quite recovers. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 71 more reviews...
FIX THE STINKING TOWELS! July 2, 2009
Jason (Backwater, Alabama)
After realizing her wealthy husband isn't quite the perfect man, Laura (Julia Roberts) is driven to desperation. Her husband Martin (Patrick Bergin) is a collector. He has a great car, an awesome job, a massively luxurious house on the beach, and Laura serves as a trophy wife. Unfortunately for Laura, however, Martin also happens to be psychotic, and he has one of the worst cases of OCD on the planet. He wants Laura to look a certain way, act a certain way, and most importantly, clean/organize the house to his liking. The canned food should have all labels facing outward, the bed must bounce a quarter, and the towels have to be even on the rack down to the thread; she's in a wife's version of Basic Training.
What to do? Laura plans her incognito aquatic escape aided by an altered appearance. Thanks to the YMCA, she disappears from Martin and reinvents herself Sara. Making her way to Iowa, she's scared on a daily basis by things like trains, whistles, aligned medicine cabinets, baseball diamonds in corn fields, and freshly creased sheets. When she meets a limp noodle drama professor named Ben Woodward (Kevin Anderson) - the anti-Martin - the demented love triangle is set for the "surprise" showdown.
The pacing is done fairly well, and the scares are believable. The character development is minimal, but it's just enough to build trust and support for Laura, pitting absolutely everyone against Martin (mostly because of his abuse, but partially because of his molestache). The concept reversal is tenuous at best, but it serves as a setup for Laura's freedom attained through her triumph over vulnerability - her new lease on life.
Director Joseph Ruben weaves a well-structured and paced film. At no point is there a lull without intensity, and conversely it is never overly ridiculous (despite moments of implausibility). I think that the messages within are as much about audience manipulation as they are abuse (considering that nobody feels bad about a blatant murder being crucial to the climax), but it's a solid suspense thriller sure to keep viewers on the edge of the seat...or at least until Julia calls the cops, "Hello, 911?"
GREAT MOVIE, BRILLIANT ACTRESS, COVER ART DISASTER May 23, 2009
SunnyATL (Atlanta, GA)
Can someone please tell me why studios have to $%#* up your favorite movies' cover art when they put them out on dvd? It was bad enough when the video for this movie came out on VHS, when they'd changed the orignal movie poster to a shot of Julia all spooked in the bathtub, but now this? The cover art of this dvd is about the most unflattering photo of Julia I've ever seen. I can only hope someone who can do something about this reads this, and restores "Sleeping With The Enemy's" original movie poster cover art when it's time to release this on Blu-ray.
 Wonderful Julia Roberts suspense film April 9, 2009
R. Pepper (Los Angeles)
This is one of my favorite Julia Roberts pictures. I do agree with part of the Amazon review that says the momentum is distracted when Julia tries on a series of hats while "Brown-eyed girl" plays in the background. This isn't supposed to be a romantic comedy, and I typically don't like that sort of thing in my thrillers. However I don't agree that the film loses all credibility. It is still very suspenseful throughout and has a good ending. The house they live in on the beach in the beginning is something to behold. Julia plays Laura who at first is portrayed as a weak woman who suffers physical abuse at the hands of her husband. But as the film progresses Laura's bravery and strength shines when she takes a rare opportunity to fake her own death and start a new life somewhere else. At first everything goes smoothly but of course it doesn't take long before her husband finds out that she is really alive and sets out to find her and bring her back home. Julia Roberts is really good in her dramatic roles here and in other fine films like Steel Magnolias and the film she won an Oscar for Erin Brockovich. If you enjoy thrillers and Julia Roberts, I would recommend The Pelican Brief and Conspiracy Theory. Watch this but definitely skip Enough with Jennifer Lopez. Matter of fact, skip anything with Jennifer Lopez.
Julia Roberts' Best Movie March 30, 2009
C. Tabor (Worcester, MA)
I've seen almost all movies of this wonderful actress, but am still waiting for the one Roberts movie that could top "Sleeping with the Enemy". I even liked it better than "Pretty Woman", because it has a lot more substance. But of course you cannot compare a comedy with a thriller.
This movie was without anby doubt the reason that I escaped an abusive marriage. It encouraged me and I have watched it more than a dozen times and I still find new things whenever I watch it.
Spoiler alert!
I wonder if Bergin would have found her if she would have removed the broken lamp glass pieces from the board walk (or if he would have worn sandals instead of walking barefoot on what seemed like a fall day to me) and if she would have sold her wedding ring instead of throwing it in the toilet bowl where it never got flushed.
But then there was still her friend from the YMCA calling plus Bergin found Robert's mother and put pressure on her...I guess she just had no chance to escape him and to start a new life. Always wondered how the story ended. Did the court decide that she acted in self-defense?
I keep checking if "Sleeping with the Enemy" finally gets released with bonus material, but so far no luck :(.
Sleeping with the Enemy keeps you on the edge of your seat. March 3, 2009
M. Holthus (Colorado)
This movie is well acted and will draw dread and charm from you. Worth seeing. Not for the sensitive.
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