Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

People obviously went to a lot of trouble to make this movie. Shot on location, it has an authentic look. It went straight to video, and although there is much to like, I can see why it didn't make a bigger impression. To paraphrase a classic line, "It could have been a contender".In 1936, a new British colonial officer, John Truscott (Hugh Dancy), begins duty as an administrator of the Iban people of Sarawak. His superior, Henry Bullard (Bob Hoskins), the Governor of the district, initiates him into the ways of his office, which includes sleeping with an Iban woman, Selima (Jessica Alba), who will teach him the language – she is his Sleeping Dictionary.Truscott begins to fall in love with her at about the same time that he meets the governor's daughter, Cecelia (Emily Mortimer), a kind-natured woman who falls in love with him. With class and racial barriers against marrying Selima, Truscott makes a decision that causes unhappiness for nearly everyone, but all is resolved before the end.Writer/director Guy Jenkins journeys into Somerset Maugham territory with this story, which is often witty and captivating, but he doesn't have Maugham's radar for human frailty. Where Maugham or even George Orwell in the not dissimilar "Burmese Days" invariably opt for tougher outcomes, towards the end of "The Sleeping Dictionary", Jenkins takes his foot off the gas, and instead of a finale born out of the conflict he has created, he settles for consensus by all concerned – it's too neat – he lets our emotions off the hook. A harsher approach may have elevated this from the safely romantic to a searing drama you would be unlikely to forget.Bob Hoskins and Hugh Dancy, deliver believable performances and Emily Mortimer's is a poignant one as she realises her husband doesn't really love her. Although Jessica Alba said she didn't like her performance, she is perfect. Well, she is a bit of a perfect person after all, so beautiful it's ridiculous. Her performance is quite understated, which seems right for the part. Noah Taylor as Neville Shipperly is wasted as a strictly by-the-numbers villain.Simon Boswell's score is an odd amalgam. I suspect that in part the movie was temp-tracked with Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant music for "Under Fire", and it influenced about half the final score. The other half is a syrupy love theme, which tends to bring the film into the realm of a Hallmark romance. I can't help feeling that an opportunity was missed to create a unique work incorporating more of the traditional instruments of Sarawak."The Sleeping Dictionary" captures a feeling for the period, and is enjoyable on a number of levels, especially the cast. It's just a pity that the film's second half doesn't deliver on the brilliance of the first half.

There is something very off about this film. I got the feeling throughout it was poorly written, with uninteresting characters abound doing unexciting things... there was no sparkling dialogue and nothing to get me engaged with them whatsoever. Like with most bad screenplays, the cast change their goals and motivations with barely any explanation. For instance, the central pair fall in love at the drop of a hat, after spending most of first part arguing. And what a vanilla pair they make. They're welcome to each other.Set in an old British territory just 2 years before the Second World War, it's a lot more involving to admire the wonderful scenery and the costumes of the tribespeople than the dull-as-ditchwater romance. Everything is predictable to the Nth degree... you could stop watching after 20 minutes and fill in the rest of the blanks yourself. In fact, don't even bother doing that. Just think of this as an exercise in audience timewasting, and follow the advice of the title: either take a nap, or read a good book instead... 3/10

No, you don't get to see Jessica Alba's breasts in this film. As far as I know, she has not done a nude scene. There are extremely lovely breasts to look at, but they belong to someone else. Yes, that a huge rip-off, but, what the hell, Emily Mortimer makes up for it somewhat by showing hers, and they are something to see.That out of the way, this was a beautiful film, cinematographically speaking, and it had some fine performances, the two mentioned being among them. Alba was a native girl that fell in love with an English Officer, Hugh Darcy, and he fell in love with her. This being Colonial English territory, this just won't do. Bob Hoskins, in another great performance, puts the kibosh on the deal, certainly at the urging of his wife, played by Brenda Blethyn, another great performance. Darcy is forced to marry their daughter (Mortimer) or face prison for allowing a native group to kill Dutch miners that were killing natives.There is nothing different in the film than what we see every day on the news. Nothing has changed. We have no problem killing thousands of Iraqis to get oil, as the Dutch had no problem killing natives for silver, or the British for whatever they were taking out of Malaysia. Of course, those Iraqis that help us are not good enough to bring to the United States, just as the natives are good for nothing more than bed-mates to teach the language. If there is a god, one hopes that we will all be called to account one day for this madness.The one thing that is great about this movie, aside from the great performances of the characters, is the fact that the ending does come out right.

There are bad movies and there are bad movies, and then there's movies like this. Even counting the truly dreadful Honey this is Jessia's worse outing. Even a 1 is generous, up to me it would get -75. Overly, overly talky, no action worth mentioning, even the 'exotic' scenery is wasted. Relationships between all the characters is so forced it would be laughable, but there's no humor to be found. And I am not against the movie dialog because it's British, but it's all so dull you won't need sleeping pills. Even the (spoiler alert!) nude scene of Jessica Alba, which most males rent this for, is a not very convincing body double that National Geographic wouldn't accept. This is simply one of those dull movies that critics love and win Oscars that cost 10 million to make an only gross $1.99 at the box office. Watching moss grow for the movie's length is more exciting.