A sexy and comic love story, set in the 1920s, about an idealistic young British colonial officer who arrives in a remote jungle outpost to find himself assigned a local beauty to sleep with him and teach him the language.
Don't let the title fool you: The Sleeping Dictionary is the most seductive argument for foreign-language education a boy ever had. Hugh Dancy is a young and idealistic colonial official posted to Britain's deep-jungle Sarawak outpost in 1939, and Jessica Alba (Dark Angel) is the "sleeping dictionary," a sexy tutor who proves that the fastest way to learn a language is through lovemaking. Guy Jenkin trades in old clichés for new ones in his revision of the exotic old melodramas of forbidden love between handsome colonial men and gorgeous, guileless native girls. Alba's accent slips and slides but she's a sweet, sexy, and beguiling presence, while Bob Hoskins and Brenda Blethyn uphold the all-important appearance of British morality. If you can overlook the contrivances, it makes for a lush romantic fantasy about the triumph of love over the hypocrisy of so-called civilized society. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Review of Sleeping Dictionary:
I thought this movie was great. Jessica Alba was perfect for the role. I can not imagine anyone that would have been more suited, or done a better job. The movie was beautiful. The characters were believable for such an unfamliar situaion. The plot was interesting and executed perfectly. I think Jessica Alba has not been reviewed fairly by establishment critiques. This should put all doubts to rest
Hugh Dancy creates high expectations for girls to have...:
I admit it, I am secretly in love with Hugh Dancy and he is one of the sole reasons I rented this movie. I also enjoy Jessica Alba's acting but my primary reasoning was to see a movie in which Hugh Dancy was the lead. Right away I was drawn into this movie, sometimes I don't understand why certain movies are direct to DVD films and this is one of them. The acting is great, Jessica and Hugh have great chemistry, the setting is beautiful and the storyline is very star-crossed lover based. At first Hugh's... more info
Truly romantic!:
I netflixed this movie before I bought it because of the negative Amazon reviews and it is worth the buy. A truly romantic movie...you won't be disappointed.
Sleeping Dictionary:
Sleeping Dictionary is an excellent movie. It evokes powerful feelings for people on both sides of the issue and really makes you think about the things so-called civilized people do in the name of "progress".
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