It’s always that essential sumthin’-sumthin’. I study movies in order to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Helps a lot with my writing.
I’d like to dissect two movies, similar themes- Sleeping With the Enemy starring Julia Roberts and Enough starring Jennifer Lopez. (I’m gonna go out on a limb here and claim that aside from her brilliant channeling of Selena in Selena, Slim Hiller in Enough might just be Jennifer Lopez’s best role. Besides, the child actor in the film, Tessa Allen who plays Gracie Hiller, gives an amazing performance. Her performance alone is reason enough to watch Enough.)
In each movie, the heroine begins as a victim and end up the victor. However in my book it’s Jennifer Lopez as Slim Hiller for the win. Her triumph elicits a much stronger reaction in me- like a kick in the gut, yet thoughtful at the same time.
The difference between the two women is this: Julia Roberts, or rather Laura Burney, begins and ends the movie a nice girl. Despite her decision during the climactic scene, she remains the same woman from start to finish. Her role is passive, reactive.
Slim Hiller begins the movie a nice girl, a little edgy but nice nonetheless. She ends the movie a mature woman who has made a terrible choice and must carry the burden of that choice for the rest of her life. She doesn’t react, she acts. In other words, her character grows and adapts. This makes Enough a lot more interesting to me than Sleeping With the Enemy. Besides, moral ambiguity is always more interesting. You see, I watch these movies to learn. They may be cheesy, but they are achetypally cheesy.
Of course it’s the mistakes that make for high drama. The mistakes lead directly to the eventual climax and the ultimate confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist.
Both of these movies are useful despite their stereotypical themes/tropes. Both women flee abusive husbands. Laura Burney (Julia Roberts) fakes her own death. Slim Hiller (Jennifer Lopez) takes her young daughter and vanishes.
Both husbands, or antagonists, are exaggerated caricatures. Controlling and paranoid of course, but also intelligent, adroit, cunning, and well-connected. They have the means and the wherewithal to track down their wives.
Most men aren’t quite that resourceful, but that doesn’t mean the stories aren’t feasible.
What I like: Both women receive help, yet in the end each must face her antagonist alone and unaided. It’s great. My favorite heroine-related plot device. It’s time to put up or shut up, baby.
Mistakes:
Laura Burney makes three major mistakes, which considering the intricacy of her plan to fake her own death, are surprisingly amateurish.
1. She flushes her wedding ring down the toilet before she disappears, which of course eventually gums up the pipes and is thus discovered, alerting said antagonist that something is amiss. Shit, our toilet has backed up because someone flushed a tiny piece of dental floss. Lesson- There are a million places to get rid of your wedding ring. Your master bathroom is not one of them. Leaving it the bay where you supposedly drowned would have been the smart thing to do.
2. She takes swimming lessons from a community pool in a neighboring town. Even though she never reveals her name, someone from her swimming class recognizes the photo in her obituary and contacts her husband to offer condolences. Lesson- If you plan to fake your own death by drowning because your husband knows you are terrified of water and can’t swim, never take swimming lessons in a community where your obit picture might possibly be seen.
3. She fakes her mother’s death too. Lesson- Cover your damn tracks. I know exactly what I would do protect my mother’s location, but of course that wouldn’t leave an opportunity for my husband to track me down. Hmmm. I suppose I could tweak the story a little bit to make it more difficult…
Slim Hiller makes fewer mistakes - after her initial mistake of marrying the guy. Of course her other mistake is refusing to go to the hospital and the police to document his physical abuse. But I can relate. I’m guilty of doing the same. But Slim’s mistakes make more sense.
As a part of Slim’s initial learning curve she makes a few typical boo-boos- such as attempting to use her credit cards and friends’ credit cards, and believing short phone calls can’t be traced. Her mistakes are like an apprenticeship, but she becomes her own mentor. The reason I prefer Enough to Sleeping With the Enemy is because the protagonist in Enough learns with each setback. Slim Hiller is a much different person by the end of the movie. She’s a survivor. Laura Burney? Not so much. Her survival seems like more of an accident.
Isn’t that what we, as authors, try to create? A character who changes over time? Movies are great for analyzing what works and what doesn’t. Sleeping With the Enemy is suspenseful, frightening, entertaining, but in the end the heroine’s journey doesn’t amount to much. Enough may lack Julia Robert’s cache, but the heroine’s journey makes it a better movie.
I can’t believe you just posted this. For some bizarre reason I have been thinking about that scene where Julia Roberts leaves her ring in the toilet after she fakes her death. For days! Seriously! There are a million and two problems with that movie, but that scene really bugged the bejimminies out of me, and I can’t stop thinking about it! After all the trouble she went to escape, all the details she had to plan out, I find it extremely hard to believe she would make such a blundering mistake.
Not buying that one.
Anyway, the other thing I heard about that movie I find fascinating is a tidbit about the actors. Patrick Bergin told a reporter that Julia Roberts was very sociable and friendly when they started filming. But as the movie progressed, she began to pull away from him and was downright frosty at the end. I guess she couldn’t separate the man and the role, and God knows he was a scary SOB in that movie. Interesting.
GREAT POST!
I don’t watch many movies and I haven’t seen either of these but I found your analysis really interesting. Thanks. Food for thought if I ever get back to writing anything.
Interesting analysis, Julia. You pinpointed exactly why SLEEPING fell flat for me. It was a case of the plot depending on what the writers wanted instead of what the character would actually do. I hate movies where the characters are nothing but puppets to be bounced around. Haven’t watched ENOUGH, but now I need to.
Exactly, Penny! That one act- dropping her ring in the toilet- bothers me more than anything. It eats at me. To go to such lengths and then do something so stupid! Gaaaaaaa! That is a really interesting tidbit. He was a very scary SOB- which made him so much more interesting than Julia Robert’s character. Thank you, sweetie!
Well, Greta - when you have time! You’re so busy traveling!
Fell flat for me too, Jaye, other than a certain horror factor. Like the cans all organized in the cupboard. You should watch Enough. I guess it’s considered a B movie but I find the heroine’s transformation engrossing. Plus the child is amazing!
Good analysis of both movies, Julia, but there’s an additional difference between the two that makes ENOUGH work better for me. It’s the mother/child over the woman/lover element. Laura Burney’s character is developed by a series of prompts and assists from the drama teacher; it’s a move of leaving one man and then being wooed and won by another. Slim Hiller’s character is motivated by the passion to protect her child; hers is a move of planning and training to remove the threat of a man and become a strong woman and mother. ENOUGH is my choice for the reasons you list, but especially for this comparison.
Marylin! Yes! Yes! Yes! Great assessment! Yes, that bothered me too. Laura Burney is the passive recipient of male attention. Slim Hiller must take charge of her life- because it’s her child’s life at stake too and she puts her child first. I’m glad you’ve seen it so you know what I mean when I say that kid is great in the film. Her actions and reactions are so realistic. I get chills when I watch her.
I have a hard time watching Enough to this day. It reminds me of my ex too much. Though I agree, her character is comes out a lot stronger.
Me too, Amber, but in a weird way that makes the movie more gratifying, if you know what I mean.
Have seen Sleeping with the Enemy but not Enough, so I probably should not weigh in at all.
Did not like Enemy as it was just a poor movie all way round. It was poorly written and directed. It was boring. Roberts was Roberts. Bergin was scary evil. Not enough there there to hold my interest. I wasted my money.
Enough sounds like a movie I might want to see. But miost movies these days are boring.
Last movie I saw at theater was The King’s Speech. It was a near perfect movie. Won’t waste my money for 99% of the crap out there these days.
I see how you use both movies to improve your writing and plots. Learn from mistakes of others has always been one of my rules of life.
Great analysis, Julia. I found Penelope’s tidbit quite interesting.
Oh Roberta, we rarely see movies in the theater. Watch Netflix or cable. I agree- learning from mistakes, probably the most important lesson in life. See Albert Einstein.
Hi Sandra. Penny nailed it - why I don’t really like that movie. Always strikes me as less a story, more of a Julia Roberts vehicle.
You are an astute movie-watcher. I have trouble pulling back enough to make a clear analysis. I’d have to watch it twice beck-to-back.
I’m picky picky picky, Marie. I pick stuff apart- movies, books, restaurant food…