Before I Go To Sleep turns out tense enough to keep you awake ...

The mark of a good thriller is usually that you don’t guess the who or the why or the what of it. Or, if you do manage to guess the who, why or what, at least you shouldn't be able to guess the how. But sadly, all that can be undone, if, after the big reveal, your first thought is: "But wait a minute, then why didn’t X and Y …

[Whiskers]

It was good on the radio

Stella Gonet's reading of the book in five episodes for the BBC, is excellent. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0125hs8/episodes/guide>

[Michael Hudson]

If you're looking for a film to watch this weekend

Watch The Guest instead. I've seen both films and The Guest is much better. Dan Stevens is a complete revelation and the daughter gives an excellent performance. Before I Go To Sleep has a small number of possible outcomes, one of which happens. It is very predictable. But you won't see the twist coming in The Guest. Sure, it could be better, but it gets a clear 4 stars as opposed to BIGTS's 3 stars.

[SkippyBing]

Re: If you're looking for a film to watch this weekend

Second for The Guest, certainly one of the better films I've seen this year. I mean it's no Lego Movie but still probably top five for me.

[Mike Bell]

It's rubbish. Slow, boring and gushingly sentimental at the end. I nearly cried in the cinema, not because it tugged at my emotions, but because I'd wasted 15 quid. Wish I'd seen The Expendables 3 instead, and that's saying something!

[Zola]

It has Nicole Kidman in the lead role

Of course it's going to be shit!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It has Nicole Kidman in the lead role

If it was not for the reviewer indicating she had done a pretty good job in her role I would perhaps have to agree. It seems however that the main failing lies elsewhere and that's not really her fault for starring in it.

[Cliff]

Re: It has Nicole Kidman in the lead role

She's actually a very competent actress who appears in a lot of crappy roles, I wouldn't write a film off for her. Dogville for instance had other problems, but her performance was solid considering the rest of the setup

[Jah]

Book is good.

[Havin_it]

Spoiler Alert!

She's Brad Pitt, Colin Firth's a ghost and Mark Strong kills Dumbledore.

[MacroRodent]

tired plot device

"you’ll realise that the whole thing is one of those situations that depends on certain key individuals not saying anything about things you’d kind of expect them to talk about"

Sounds like the "Harry Potter" films then, where most of the messes could have been avoided if Harry, Dumbledore and others hadn't been so fond of keeping secrets.

[bpfh]

Re: tired plot device

Shirley not as bad as Torchwood with Jack refusing to tell his team anything for absolutely no reason whatsoever as a failed attempt to bolster the intrigue and eek out another 20 minutes per episode...Was the storyline written by Russel T. Davis too by any chance?

[Irongut]

Isn't that the plot of the Adam Sandler + Drew Barrymore comedy "50 first dates?"

Not an ideal plot to copy for a thriller.

[The last doughnut]

I read somewhere that Hollywood films are often shown to a trial audience or two before general release. Comments and feedback are taken from the popcorn-munchers and often as a result the film may be re-edited, partially re-shot or even re-written.

You do wonder why we all expect more from this sort of thing, when in reality its creative drive originates in the spreadsheets of a vertically-integrated entertainment business.