Only a director like the late, great Stanley Kubrick could make an erotic thriller that's more likely to creep out audiences than titillate them.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Tomatometer
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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
Kubrick's captivating visuals, gripping tension and masterful use of music make this film, if not one of his finest, an excellent production indeed.
While this is obviously a must-see for Kubrick acolytes, those with less lofty expectations should be prepared for an overblown effort, imbued with Kubrick's uncomfortable personal vision conveyed with distinctive and stunning style.
Eyes Wide Shut will not be remembered as Kubrick's finest film, but it will be regarded as his most adult venture.
Eyes Wide Shut is the feast of technique, Freudian inquiry and personal audacity.
You could say that leaving this as his final film was one of the most audacious (if inadvertantly so) moves of his career -- in death, the obsessive perfectionist demigod of film history is revealed to be an optimist at heart.
A dreamlike, misunderstood, slow-paced sucker-punch to the mind... the moments of brilliance more than make up for the times Kubrick loses his way
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.
As visual composition and ideological rumination, it’s cryptic, maddening and often brilliant. Plotwise, it’s less stunning.
Eyes Wide Shut has a certain visually purity, like all Kubrick's films...
In typical Kubrick style, the puzzle master allows us to construct our own reality...
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.
Eyes Wide Shut is an extraordinary, exhilarating, haunting masterwork; an important final destination for the journey of one of cinema's most beloved directors.
Brilliantly filmed in his usual transfixing style, Kubrick's last movie pleads for alertness to the temptations that assail human nature from within and without.
Latest News for Eyes Wide Shut
May 26, 2008:
Sydney Pollack dies aged 73
Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, Sydney Pollack, dies aged 73. More...
July 31, 2006:
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The London set of upcoming James Bond flick, "Casino Royale," was severely damaged in a fire Sunday that partially collapsed the roof of the storied Pinewood... More...
May 19, 2005:
Hopper, Huppert, Keitel & Mirren to Visit "America"
A fistful of respected acting veterans are set to appear in Jerzy Skolimowski's "America," based on Susan Sontag's 2001 novel "In America," says The... More...
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