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Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
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Reviews Counted:117
Fresh:91
Rotten:26
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Kubrick's intense study of the human psyche yields an impressive cinematic work.
Synopsis: Stanley Kubrick's final film is a mature, highly intelligent, thrilling masterpiece of sexual obsession and marital (in)fidelity. Tom Cruise stars as Bill Harford, a doctor who becomes obsessed... Stanley Kubrick's final film is a mature, highly intelligent, thrilling masterpiece of sexual obsession and marital (in)fidelity. Tom Cruise stars as Bill Harford, a doctor who becomes obsessed with a sexual fantasy that his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), confesses to him. Although the fantasy (involving a naval officer) occurred only in Alice's mind, Bill can't get it out of his own head; his obsession leads him through a series of potential sexual encounters, each one surrounded by the specter of death. His whole world threatens to unravel as he falls deeper and deeper into a web of mystery, lies, and deceit. Kubrick's film breathes with vivid blues, reds, and blacks, the threat of illicit sex and death lurking around every corner. Cruise and Kidman, who are married in real life, are utterly convincing as a happy couple suddenly forced to reexamine their faith in each other. Sidney Pollack, Todd Field, Julienne Davis, Marie Richardson, and Vinessa Shaw sparkle in minor roles. Based on the novella TRAUMNOVELLE by Arthur Schnitzler, EYES WIDE SHUT is a brilliant examination of the psychological nature of sex and marriage, of faith and faithlessness, of obsession and desire. Kubrick said that his last film (he died shortly before the film opened) was "my best film ever;" while that is debatable, there is no doubting that the film is a splendid finale to a glorious career. [More]
Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field
Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Rade Serbedzija, Leelee Sobieski, Vinessa Shaw
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick, Fredrick Raphael
Producer: Stanley Kubrick
Composer: Gyorgy Ligeti, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Dmitri Shostakovich
Reviews for Eyes Wide Shut
I kept my eyes wide open all through Eyes Wide Shut and saw more control-freak unreality than visual genius around the edges of the cluttered compositions.
Combines all the flaws that marred Kubrick's earlier work - including a glacial pace, emotional coldness and the sudden eruption of scenes that seem to belong in a different movie.
Kubrick's legacy has finally come to a close, his adieu as predictably turgid as the rest of his oeuvre.
I don't know how a director whose central theme is the loss of humanity can be so uninterested in the minutiae of human speech and behavior.
After 2001 went to his cosmic head, Kubrick's films tended to be stillborn beauties, and to the list of the consummately moribund we must add Eyes Wide Shut.
The pace of movies and storytelling has increased rapidly every year, and exponentially overall, but Eyes Wide Shut finds Stanley stubbornly operating at pre-MTV levels.
Finally, however, it's just a cautionary tale about some very mild, old-fashioned erotic fantasies.
For most people, though, a single viewing will be more than enough.
The coda to Kubrick's career has some delightfully Kubrickian moments, but not enough to fill this shallow shell of a movie.
What ends up on screen is sumptuous, portentous, slow-moving and pointless.
[I]t's a tedious, preposterous story about how men use, misuse, and misunderstand female sexuality.
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