It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The way the story goes in this movie reminded me little bit of the "Illusionist" in that the main character goes through a plan to covertly elope with a woman who is already married.A British attaché to colonial Sarawak Borneo comes across a native woman referred to as the "Sleeping Dictionary" to train him on the language and culture of the locals while she sleeps with him. He also has a fiancé in England who's actually the daughter of his boss in Sarawak. To make matters even more complicated, the Sleeping Dictionary, and his fiancé are step sisters. Predictably enough, he falls in love with the Sleeping Dictionary and decides to abandon his fiancée.Written and Directed by Guy Jenkin, both the story, and the visuals are high in quality. Jessica Alba is captured at the height of her beauty as the Sleeping Dictionary. The whole movie does succeed in transporting you to a land far away and beautiful. If there was a flaw in the movie, I couldn't see it. This is one movie where the jungle theme really succeeded - a rarity just for that alone, but considering its low budget, it's unbelievably well made.This is one movie you wouldn't want to miss.

This was never released but went straight to DVD and I can't figure out why. The movie could be classified as a "Date" movie, one part romance novel, one part drama. I was really drawn to this movie by Jessica Alba, if nothing else she's jut fine to look at and it's fun to see her grow as an actress. Yes, grow, she's improving with each film she's in. It was a huge bonus that the movie itself is very good. I was very surprised at the fine actors aboard. Bob Hoskins, Emily Moritmer and Brenda Blethyn let alone the native tribesmen. The movie has a first class look to it, well I expected this to be shot on a back lot but it was shot on location which you just don't see on a direct to DVD release. This is one of those movies that are a joy to discover. There's very few explosions, action scenes are not longer than 1 minute long, all that's left is a simple story about love that works for me. I would suggest another "gem" with Emily Morimer in it, 'Dear Frankie', it's a very good movie also.

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.

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.