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Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)

tomatometer

13

Average Rating: 3.9/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 7

No consensus yet.

audience

66

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 61,271

My Rating

Movie Info

Hot off her success in Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts starred in this thriller about a battered wife stalked by her abusive husband. Roberts plays Laura Burney, the wife of a rich investment counselor, Martin (Patrick Bergin). Martin appreciates his wife as a trophy, but at home he abuses her for not keeping the house as clean as he would like it. The verbal abuse descends into physical violence --so much so that Laura decides to disappear rather than live a life under Martin as a brutalized slave.

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Sep 2, 2003

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Cast

All Critics (33) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (25) | DVD (4)

It's the sort of movie where all of the characters and plot moves (if one wants to call them that) are tailored to the thriller mechanics and have no existence apart from their crude functionality.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Roberts is terrific in a layered part. Anderson brings an edge to the nice-guy-next-door role, and the dark, dashing Bergin is chillingly twisted.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
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Julia Roberts, a beauty who can also act, is one of the best things in recent movies. By my count she hasn't made a really good movie yet.

May 12, 2001 Comment (1)
Rolling Stone
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The film begins as an unyielding look at a battered wife, and ends as another one of those thrillers where the villain toys with his victim and the audience.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment (1)
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

No one in this movie can be accused of doing his best.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment (1)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A relentlessly formulaic look at the downside of sexual obsession.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment (1)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...ultimately undone by a relentless emphasis on obvious and downright laughable elements that'll surely leave even the most ingenuous viewer sporadically rolling their eyes.

April 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

Sleeping With the Enemy teeters constantly on the verge of silliness but director Joseph Ruben keeps the cornball melodrama scaled down to a pleasant lull.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

a testament to Roberts' early star power and little else.

September 27, 2003 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

Moral: Never marry anyone who finds 'Symphony Fantastique' erotic.

August 14, 2003 Comment (1)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The story goes by the numbers.

March 23, 2003 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comment
Laramie Movie Scope
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Sleeping with the Enemy

One of the first thrillers I saw at the cinema. Julia is brilliant. She stages her own death to get away from her abusive husband but he realises and comes looking for her.

July 14, 2007
thmtsang
Candy Rose

Super Reviewer

Really really scary. It's sad how things like this actually happen and the plot was really carefully thought about and written well. Julia Roberts was astounding and I had nothing but empathy for her character. Found myself screaming at the T.V and rooting for her. It's a definite must see!

June 23, 2011
murphmann93
Bethany Murphy

Super Reviewer

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