Girls, There Is Nothing Like A Good Dose Of Retro Psychosis!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, this does not happen very often; I was flipping the TV dial a few eves back, and came upon a film just beginning. It was the 1991 Julia Roberts film "Sleeping With The Enemy," which I had seen in its original release at the Alpine in Bay Ridge, when I still lived there. Just a year ago, I was thinking about this film, wondering if it would hold. Well, gijrls, here was my chance to find out, and it did.

This is the film where Julia plays Laura Burney, married to an abusive, obsessive sociopath, played by Patrick Bergin with creepy intensity, and one of filmdom's coldest stares, in a performance that should have taken him somewhere, but did not. Laura fakes her own death, flees to life in Cedar Falls, Iowa (would not be MY choice, darlings), and takes up with a local drama instructor, unfortunately played by Kevin Anderson, with no appeal or panache whatsoever, and why he continues to get work 20 years later, now that he has aged, is a mystery to me, loves!!!!!!!!
Maybe he butt fucks everyone in sight!!!!!!!! Believe me, this movie is ALL Patrick and Julia; any juice it has comes from them.

So Laura is on the lam from Martin, happy and contented. But before you can say "Symphony Fantastique," Martin hunts her down and comes creeping back, determined that if he can't have her, no one else will. Imagine if he and Alex Forrest had met up; what a pair they would make!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, the movie does nothing to explain Martin's background, as to how he got the way he did, which would have been helpful, and given Bergin a context for his creepiness. Good as he is, he is just a big old killing machine. Now, of course he is a wealthy, heterosexual investment counselor, who operates within corporate America, so that says something right there. I also resented the clearly homophobic scene between he and the drama teacher who turns out to be the wrong guy--NOT necessary at all!!!!!!!!!!

But with Julia and Patrick, great art direction (that picture, perfect town, a beach house looking as though designed by Boris Aronson for "Company") the film turns out to have more grit than you might think. It is less violent than I remember; most of the tension comes from how Julia and Patrick stare at each other, and the scene with the woman on the bus is what showed me that Julia Roberts could genuinely act. Maybe not Meryl, darlings, but way beyond "Pretty Woman."

I felt so pretty watching this with Monsieur Davide, who is not only truly wonderful, he is my little Esther Drescher. But "Sleeping With The Enemy" has more going for it than you might think.

And Julia's hair. Which we all want, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!

See you at the salon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!