"...and no dream is ever just a dream..."      

EYES WIDE SHUT (R)

Reviewed July 19, 1999 - Check out the Eyes Wide Shut Website.

Tom Cruise.  Nicole Kidman.  Stanley Kubrick.  In Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's much publicized and highly controversial final work about sexual obsession, we are introduced to Dr. Bill Harford (Cruise) and his wife Alice (Kidman), a married couple of nine years...a couple seemingly happy, seemingly content.  Just under the almost too-perfect surface, however, lie the seeds of infatuation, jealousy, lust and infidelity, and when on one fateful night Alice reveals to Bill a secret obsession she once held for another man, Bill...well...snaps...

Tailspinning into a world of lust and sexual obsession, Bill begins to wander the streets of New York, finding himself in worlds of prostitution, orgies, and other types of sexual and social deviance.  Without going into all the details (which might reveal too much of the plot), Bill slowly draws himself into a corrosive environment that threatens to destroy his relationship with Alice, and perhaps eventually destroy him.  Is this a brilliantly incisive psychological drama or simply a glossy and stylized porn flick?  I suppose this is what all the fuss has been about as Eyes Wide Shut opened in theaters this last week, and critics have taken their stands on either side of the debate.  I, for one, think that Eyes Wide Shut is neither of these, but rather some visually and psychologically haunting fusion of the two, in a way only Kubrick could have envisioned.  There's no question that this film has a very strong and distinct "feel" to it, a sort of quiet, eerie and atmospheric style that is both visually luminous yet forebodingly dark.  This is, in many ways, "eye candy," and atmosphere is certainly the film's main strength, helping to make its 2 1/2 hour runtime much more bearable. 

Unfortunately, Eyes Wide Shut falls short in other areas, with a mechanical coldness that seems to pervade each scene, making it difficult to connect with anyone or anything in the film.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely found Eyes Wide Shut both engaging and interesting, but in the end it is not a movie that I'd chalk up as a "satisfying film."  Kubrick afficionados will no doubt argue this point, but for me Eyes Wide Shut is ultimately not a must see kind of film, but is rather simply a very engaging visual piece, creatively conceived and executed by one of film's "master" directors, and starring one of Hollywood's hottest couples.

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

anonymous entry gives this movie  stars: "Pure Masterpiece." (1/12/01)

thejack999@webtv.net gives this movie  stars: "Yes...He's done it again!! KUBRICK, the master filmaker, has truely left an impression on me with his last epic film... EYES WIDE SHUT is nothing short of a haunting sexual thriller. A masterpiece to say the least. Tom Cruise was truely believable in his best role ever; The soundtrack is equally powerful... Definitely this film is worth several viewings." (9/21/00)

lilopad@webtv.net gives this movie  stars: "Tom Cruise sleepwalks through an unconvincing sexual nightmare for no conceivable reason (jelous of his wife's fantasy?) and to no discernible point." (4/9/00)

bigjon29@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Another Kubrick classic!exceptional performances by Cruise & Kidman." (12/14/99)

crippel@ckls.org gives this movie  stars: "The lady I saw it with said,"I didn't know a movie with so much nudity could be so boring." I agree." (8/15/99)

ronin_1981@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "This is one of Kubrick's best films. A haunting masterpiece" (8/6/99)

ktancuan@earthlink.net gives this movie  star: "A complete waste of time. Even the soundtrack was unbearable!" (8/2/99)

sweets369@hotmail.com gives this movie  star: "Worst movie I have seen! Very slow moving, no plot, very BORING!!!! One that will make you want to leave the movie!" (8/1/99)