Such a frustrating disappointment

Memorable, crazy movie

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a nice to watch, entertaining love-movie. It's not always convincing, and not always perfect. But Bob Hoskins performance, and Jessica Albas beauty definitely made this movie worth to watch. (Even though, Jessica Alba couldn't fully convince me with a bad played accent and odd pronunciations.) The nice landscapes and pictures also added towards the enjoyment you can get out of the film. Don't expect anything extraordinary though. The story is nothing new, just the usual Hollywood love story with a love against tradition theme. It's a bit cheesy, but less cheesy than most other Hollywood-love movies. If you have been looking for that anyway, this movie is for you.

The summary above sounds like a few films I saw as a young lad in 1936, I loved this type movie then & still do, Then they were G rated, NOW they are more realistic & this has an honest R rating.To those reading this who are senior citizen,Think of Dorothy Lamour,Robert Preston, Ray Milland,Raymond Massey,Mary Astor & Frances Farmer, Now enacted by Jessica Alba,Hugh Dancy,Noah Taylor,Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blythen & Emily Mortimer, in the same roles as the above cast.Dorothy Lamour was as capable an actress as Jessica Alba.( now who ever paid attention to Miss Lamour's acting; Miss Alba is so beautiful who cares if she can act.Hugh Dancy an exceedingly handsome actor is also a brilliant actor & he shines in this early role. Noah Taylor is equally good as a slightly nasty guy, Bob Hoskins & Brenda Blythen are excellent in there characters,& Nancy Mortimer in another first rate performance.Guy Jenkin both wrote & directed this wonderful trip back to the past when films like this were common place. The production values are first rate & believe it or not this excellent film only cost $ 12 Million For some reason this film never was released to the theatres, it went direct to DVD.It was filmed on location in Sarawak--Malaysia.Everything is near flawless. The R rating is mainly for the adult subject matter, a few choice words & an unneeded shot of naked breasts,.For beautiful love story, exotic location fans THIS IS A MUst. ratings **** (OUT OF 4) 98 POINTS (OUT OF 100) IMDb 10(OUT OF 10)

I just saw a terrible film called The Sleeping Dictionary. One reviewer on Four Word Film Review (www.fwfr.com) got it right right when he wrote, "From A to Zzzzzzzzz." The story is about an English colonialist jerk that comes to Malaysia to "civilize the savages" so to speak and ends up falling in love with his sleeping dictionary. A sleeping dictionary is a native Malaysian prostitute fluent in English that services Englishmen colonialists and teaches them her native language in return for ... well the movie never really makes that clear, but I can only assume he gives her money or something. Needless to say, the movie focuses a lot more on the "sleeping" part than on the "dictionary" part of the job description. Things get complicated for our young hero when the forbidden love affair gets compounded by her culture, his soap opera domestic situation, and his own boundless stupidity in every major decision he makes throughout the film.So yes, the movie has some major flaws, but on the other hand, it delivered exactly the two things I rented it for in the first place: a beautifully photographed exotic location, and an even more beautifully photographed and exotic woman that plays the sleeping dictionary, Jessica Alba. My friend told me that this crappy movie was her at her most beautiful and damn was he right. She's not a great actress, and doesn't quite pass for Malaysian, and its pretty obvious that they use a body double for the nudity, but who cares? Jessica Alba has that rare face and figure that's more than just sexy, but also beautiful in the way that a Vivaldi violin concerto or a Rembrandt painting is.(P.S. Sorry to all you feminists out there who discourage objectifying women, the "male gaze," etc. etc., but I hope you can understand that I mean no disrespect.)

This was an excellent film and brought back a lot of memories of my time with the Iban people in Sarawak. The costumes, the people, the scenery...these would all be worth watching the movie even without a good plot. There are some priceless moments in it including a conversation with the cook about drunkenness and wages and the relationship between the young Englishman and the Iban people he is supposed to be governing. The Iban have a well developed sense of humor. Overall the plot is enjoyable. I'm not a fan of romances, but this was well done and gave a unique glimpse into a people who are still very much the same to this day (minus the actual head hunting).If you have ever dreamed of an adventure in Borneo, watch this first...it will convince you of the beauty and the need to go.