A gritty tale about a respected psychiatrist who suffers from the death of his first wife. In an attempt to save him, his second wife admits him into a shady rehab; he is into a bigger hell?

If you don't mind a heavy dose of schmaltz and sentiment, this romantic comedy has a gentle way of seducing you with its charms. While You Were Sleeping was the first starring role for Sandra Bullock after her blockbuster success in Speed. In a role that nicely emphasises her easygoing appeal, Bullock is the reason the movie works at all. She plays Lucy Eleanor Moderatz, a Chicago Transit tollbooth clerk who's hopelessly smitten with a daily commuter, Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher). She saves the object of her affection from certain death after he's mugged and falls onto the train tracks. While Peter is in a coma, she lets his family believe that she is his fiancée, and surprisingly finds herself drawn to his brother (Bill Pullman), for whom the attraction is definitely mutual. How Lucy gets out of this amorous predicament is what makes this pleasant movie less predictable than its familiar ingredients would initially indicate. It's feel-good fluff, with characters and performances that keep you smiling through the drippy plot mechanics. --Jeff Shannon

While not the adult-interest title that its moniker might suggest, Whipped is still a near-the-knuckle, extremely bawdy comedy of grown-up pursuits. Set in New York, it takes a less than flattering look at the games played by the single men and women of the city, in particular three young males--Brad, Jonathon and Zeke. Their lives centre around "scamming" women and meeting up once a week to brag about their exploits, that is until they all come across the woman of their dreams. Coincidentally, this happens at the same time. Less than coincidentally, it happens to be the same woman, Mia (Amanda Peet).

The machinations that follow their discovery of this strange turn of events form the bulk of the storyline, as each attempts to stab his friend in the back in order to win Mia’s affections. The film fails, however, because its portrayal of the three desperate men is so uncanny that it's impossible to establish even the slightest empathy towards them. Consequently Whipped degenerates into a succession of base sexual jokes and charmless attempts at emotion before finally running out of steam after 90 minutes. Its denouement is doubtless intended to be seen as a pro-feminist statement, but merely indicates that women can be just as shallow and unpleasant as men. In the hands of an independent European filmmaker, Whipped could have been a comedy of style and panache but, as it is, the movie is a joyless experience.

On the DVD: Whipped on DVD has good, yet unremarkable, sound and picture quality. There are no extras aside from a trailer, which gives a fair indication of the less-than-stunning experience ahead. --Phil Udell