The Sleeping Dictionary

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful direct to DVD period movie with Jessica Alba
Review: "The Sleeping Dictionary" was a direct to video film, which is rather surprisingly given both its cast and its look, as borne out by the film winning four DVD Exclusive Awards in 2003 for Best Actress Jessica Alba, Best Cinematography by Martin Fuhrer, Best Supporting Actor Bob Hoskins, and Best Supporting Actress Brenda Blethyn. This really is too good of a film to be a DVD Premier Movie, but hopefully word will get around, even if it is to check out Jessica Alba wearing colorful tribal outfits.

The setting is Sarawak, Malaysia in 1937, when young John Truscott (Hugh Dancy), fresh out of university (where he tended to read books), has come to serve his Majesty's government as an official of the Empire. The regional governor is Henry Bullard (Hoskins), who oversees the Iban, a tribe of friendly headhunters. John, like his father, has a dream of educating the Iban children, but that requires him to learn the local language and customs. The governor arranges for John to have a "sleeping dictionary," a local girl who will both teach the young Englishmen to speak the language and tutor him in the ways of love.

The girl selected for John is Selima (Alba), who is half Iban and have British. John initially resists the second part of his education, but in the end falls in love with this beautiful and sensual woman, which violates the taboos of both cultures. Meanwhile, the governor wants his daughter, Cecil (Emily Mortimer) to marry John, and the situation conspires to give our young hero no choice but to stick to the elitist traditions of his own people. Cecil and her mother (Blethyn) know about the sleeping dictionaries, but it turns out that neither they nor John know everything about Selima and the solution to John's problems that is arranged at the end of the film's first act becomes unraveled in the second.

This is a beautiful film from writer-director Guy Jenkin, full of stunning visuals of the lush jungle of Sarawak and the native peoples. Simon Boswell's musical score perfectly compliments the visual splendor. The only real weakness on that side of the camera is the editing, where key moments are shoved aside to move on to the next scene too quickly a couple of times. But the strength of "The Sleeping Dictionary" is in front of the camera, not only in terms of the gorgeous images but the solid performances from the entire cast. Even those who are disappointed that there is a body double for Alba in the nude scenes or that her accent is problematic at times are not going to be disappointed they checked out this 2002 film.

Unfortunately New Line Cinema skimped on the extras for this DVD. All we get is are trailers, mostly for other films, and no insights into whether the sleeping dictionary is a real tradition or part of Jenkins' imagination. One of the joys of a well made period piece is a look at the fun the cast and crew had with getting it right on screen.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful direct to DVD period movie with Jessica Alba
Review: "The Sleeping Dictionary" was a direct to video film, which is rather surprisingly given both its cast and its look, as borne out by the film winning four DVD Exclusive Awards in 2003 for Best Actress Jessica Alba, Best Cinematography by Martin Fuhrer, Best Supporting Actor Bob Hoskins, and Best Supporting Actress Brenda Blethyn. This really is too good of a film to be a DVD Premier Movie, but hopefully word will get around, even if it is to check out Jessica Alba wearing colorful tribal outfits.

The setting is Sarawak, Malaysia in 1937, when young John Truscott (Hugh Dancy), fresh out of university (where he tended to read books), has come to serve his Majesty's government as an official of the Empire. The regional governor is Henry Bullard (Hoskins), who oversees the Iban, a tribe of friendly headhunters. John, like his father, has a dream of educating the Iban children, but that requires him to learn the local language and customs. The governor arranges for John to have a "sleeping dictionary," a local girl who will both teach the young Englishmen to speak the language and tutor him in the ways of love.

The girl selected for John is Selima (Alba), who is half Iban and have British. John initially resists the second part of his education, but in the end falls in love with this beautiful and sensual woman, which violates the taboos of both cultures. Meanwhile, the governor wants his daughter, Cecil (Emily Mortimer) to marry John, and the situation conspires to give our young hero no choice but to stick to the elitist traditions of his own people. Cecil and her mother (Blethyn) know about the sleeping dictionaries, but it turns out that neither they nor John know everything about Selima and the solution to John's problems that is arranged at the end of the film's first act becomes unraveled in the second.

This is a beautiful film from writer-director Guy Jenkin, full of stunning visuals of the lush jungle of Sarawak and the native peoples. Simon Boswell's musical score perfectly compliments the visual splendor. The only real weakness on that side of the camera is the editing, where key moments are shoved aside to move on to the next scene too quickly a couple of times. But the strength of "The Sleeping Dictionary" is in front of the camera, not only in terms of the gorgeous images but the solid performances from the entire cast. Even those who are disappointed that there is a body double for Alba in the nude scenes or that her accent is problematic at times are not going to be disappointed they checked out this 2002 film.

Unfortunately New Line Cinema skimped on the extras for this DVD. All we get is are trailers, mostly for other films, and no insights into whether the sleeping dictionary is a real tradition or part of Jenkins' imagination. One of the joys of a well made period piece is a look at the fun the cast and crew had with getting it right on screen.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet and Engaging
Review: At first, I got curious with the movie because of Jessica Alba. But, Jessica Alba alone couldn't make me watch it more than twice. Other elements must be there. It has an engaging story. What's nice is that it's not a straight drama, it has humor making it entertaining. One would be swept away with the scenery. It has a great cast that gave a commendable performance. There's definitely chemistry between Jessica and Hugh Dancy. Regarding Jessica's accent, I don't know what to think of it since I have never come across a member of the Iban tribe so I wouldn't know if hers sounded fake or authentic. Because of the accent, it's better to turn on the sub-titles just to be sure that one understands everything in the movie. Since the movie went straight to video in the U.S., people might think that it's a B-movie but it's absolutely NOT.

Rating:
Summary: Fall Asleep with this 'Dictionary'
Review: Calm down, that was a body double, ignorant goofs. An English colonial was sent to a British post in Sarawak (where in the world is that?), during the 1930's era. There "The Sleeping Dictionary" was assigned to him and he received the best tutoring session he ever had! Hugh Dancy played the noisy man who thought he had his morals straight, but he didn't. Good thing Jessica Alba was in this movie. She really needed to pull a "Dark Angel" on everyone. Even the guy from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" was insanely miscast as her father! Can you believe it? I really had high hopes for this movie, but it proved to be a huge disappointment. How shamey.

Rating:
Summary: Fall Asleep with this 'Dictionary'
Review: Calm down, that was a body double, ignorant goofs. An English colonial was sent to a British post in Sarawak (where in the world is that?), during the 1930's era. There "The Sleeping Dictionary" was assigned to him and he received the best tutoring session he ever had! Hugh Dancy played the noisy man who thought he had his morals straight, but he didn't. Good thing Jessica Alba was in this movie. She really needed to pull a "Dark Angel" on everyone. Even the guy from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" was insanely miscast as her father! Can you believe it? I really had high hopes for this movie, but it proved to be a huge disappointment. How shamey.

Rating:
Summary: Lush scenery and story make up for acting performances
Review: Despite a sub-par performance by Jessica Alba, I still enjoyed this movie. In fact, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The scenery was beautiful, and the story was intriguing to me of an English colonial attempting to learn the language and culture of a people. Through his education, he finds himself more comfortable with the natives than with his fellow Englishmen.

Hugh Dancy and Bob Hoskins turn in good performances. In many ways, they keep the movie afloat. Jessica just seemed a bit out of place. I've seen her act. I know she can do a good job. She simply didn't seem to have a solid handle on her character. Her accent was about as credible as Kevin Costner's in Robin Hood. But, I was able to look past this and enjoy this film.

Also, anyone who rents this film with the hopes of "seeing" Jessica topless is in for a disappointment. It is a body-double, confirmed by Jessica Alba herself. Any time you don't see the actor/actress's face, 9 times out of 10, it is a body double. And anyone who knows anything about making movies aside from watching them knows that just because the cut to the face of the actor/actress, is not an indicator that it is the actor/actress doing the nude scene. Anytime the movie "cuts" is an indication of a new shot, therefore, not filmed in a single, unending sequence.

So, if you are interested in a good story and some great scenery, than this film should work for you. If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of Jessica, then you best move on.

Rating:
Summary: Surprising little gem!
Review: I had never heard of this movie until it popped up on a movie channel. Having lived several years past in the Far East, I enjoy many of the movies that take place in that part of the world. The movie's summary intriqued me, so I watched it and was pleasantly surprised! It's not a great movie, but it is a good movie and a beautiful movie to watch. Although they opted to go with Jessica Alba rather than to use an Asian actress, Jessica does a great job in her role as "The Sleeping Dictionary". In fact, I didn't realize it was she until I checked the credits at the end. It's a good look at British Colonialism during the 1930s in Sarawak and the double standards many of the Colonialists possessed. If you enjoy exotic locales, beautiful scenery, and a good tale, give this movie a look.

Rating:
Summary: Very exciting
Review: I loved the movie. I expected when I rented it that it would be boring but the movie surprised me. Hugh Dancy and Jessica Alba displayed major chemistry in the movie. He showed that even though he was a man he was still innocent in the way between a man and a woman and in the way the world operate. She also had moments of wonderment but mostly she showed that she had more experience than he did. She was very strong. It was a delicate balance. If the director had made the movie very raunchy or crass it would not be as appealing as it is. We know what Jessica does we do not need to have it constantly thrown in our faces. It was subtly referred to in the movie. Overall I thought that they made a very moving, romantic couple.

Rating:
Summary: It's okay!
Review: I never, ever heard of this movie and one day i had a good deal at Hollywood video,(buy 2 get 1 free). It looked pretty interesting, so i baught it. It's an ok movie. I mean, it starts off pretty slow and then just takes forever to end. Jessica Alba does really well in the movie, but doesn't really look like she'd belong there. After all it's something you can watch and wonder if it was really worth watching. As for romance status, it's a 3. Trust me if your a romance movie freak like i am, it's not so romantic as you'd hope! :)

Rating:
Summary: Hugh Dancy takes my fancy
Review: I purchased this video after seeing Hugh Dancy in Daniel Deronda. I mean he is gorgeous, and yes he can act. If you like romance movies, with some action thrown in, you'll enjoy this movie very much. I only wish Hugh would make in big in American movies. He certainly has what it takes !