Misunderstood as a psychosexual thriller, Stanley Kubrick's final film is actually more of an acidic comedy about how Tom Cruise fails to get laid.
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.
Runtime: 2 hrs 59 mins 42 secs
Genre: Dramas
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
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Reviews for Eyes Wide Shut
As you'd expect from Kubrick, this is a cerebral film that works on several levels--the illusory, the real, the ethereal and everything that falls in between.
An unqualified masterpiece from a master whose death marked the end of an era.
Like all Kubrick's films, this one will take time, and multiple viewings, to yield up its full meaning and resonance.
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.
A riveting, thematically probing, richly atmospheric and just occasionally troublesome work, a deeply inquisitive consideration of the extent of trust and mutual knowledge possible between a man and a woman.
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.
Finally, however, it's just a cautionary tale about some very mild, old-fashioned erotic fantasies.
What's the biggest surprise of Eyes Wide Shut? It would be that Kubrick has nearly made a David Lynch movie.
Kubrick, exactly in character, has left us as the unchallengeable champion of the enigma.
It's the last work we'll ever see by a filmmaker who gave us so much in the dozen films he created over nearly five decades of filmmaking.
I found it brilliantly executed and haunting, like most of Kubrick's work.
As it rambles on, it makes less and less of the material, rather than more.
No one familiar with the cold precision of Kubrick's work will be surprised that this isn't the steamy erotic thriller a synopsis (or the ads) might suggest.
There is a lot of frustrating, rough going in this supremely controlled and visually enticing enterprise. Still, it is Kubrick, and confused intensity from this director is a better bet than nearly anyone else's best work.
While it is not without faults, it is definitely a compelling piece of art that will be held up as an example of what filmmaking is supposed to be.
The #1 Movie of 1999: 'A coherent summary of Kubrick's longtime themes and a worthy capstone to his long, distinguished career.'
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