Side Effects (2013)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: A smart, clever thriller with plenty of disquieting twists, Side Effects is yet another assured effort from director Steven Soderbergh.
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Cast
as Dr. Jonathan Banks
as Emily Taylor
as Dr. Victoria Siebert
as Martin Taylor
as Martin's Mother
as Dierdre Banks
as Prison Desk Guard
as Upset Visitor
as Emily's Boss
as Garage Attendant
as Police Officer at Hospital
as Augustin
as Desk Nurse
as Joan
as Conference Organizer
as Carl
as Kayla
as Bartender
as NYPD Officer Beahan
as Pharmacist
as Banks Partner #1
as Drug Rep
as Banks Partner #2
as Ezra Banks
as Banks Patient #1
as Paramedic #1
as Paramedic #2
as NYPD Detective
as Assistant District Attorney
as Transporting Officer Klein
as Emily's Attorney
as GMA Anchor
as Dr. Peter Joubert
as Reporter #1
as Reporter #2
as Banks Patient #2
as Banks Patient #3
as Jeffery Childs
as Judge #1
as Susan
as Wards Island Administrator
as ECT Patient
as ECT Nurse
as Disturbed Patient on Phone
as Wards Island Desk Nurse
as Wards Island Nurse
as Wards Island Orderly
as Wards Island Orderly
as Judge #2
as Arresting Officer
as Zach
News & Interviews for Side Effects
Critic Reviews for Side Effects
All Critics (201) | Top Critics (52) | Fresh (167) | Rotten (34) | DVD (1)
It's difficult to escape the impression that the movie is impressed only with its cleverness.
Once Side Effects gets into its crime story, medication is swept aside by movie nonsense. The storyline goes into tangles that have to be dealt with very rapidly if the audience is not to start laughing.
As a thriller in the Hitchcock mould, 'Side Effects' is great fun: its characters are well acted without being entirely likeable, which makes their jeopardy all the more enjoyable while putting us at a clinical remove.
Soderbergh is less interested in making statements than he is in skillfully fulfilling genre expectations.
A crafty teaser that presents itself as one kind of film before gradually evolving into another kind altogether. I, for one, enjoyed both enormously.
Steven Soderbergh is one of our best and most versatile directors.
Audience Reviews for Side Effects
If this is really Soderbergh's last film, at least he departs on a good note with this smart film that moves so expertly from one genre to another - switching protagonists and growing from an intimate drama about depression to a pharmaco-thriller with clever twists.
Super Reviewer
Interesting. I didn't expect the twists and turns at all. Not entirely the movie I thought I would be watching, but I liked it. Jude Law is always a put off in a movie, though. I didn't find the past scandal with the ex patient a stretch at all with him, though I get that it probably didn't actually happen. I am not entirely sure it all added up at the end, or was possible, but good movie that I doubt I will rewatch.
Super Reviewer
A depressed woman finds the drug and psychiatrist who prescribed it may be responsible for her killing her husband. The first part of this film is vintage Soderbergh, social issue drama with compelling characters and well-constructed plot lines. The second part of this film is a milquetoast, predictable thriller that is fun but not all that interesting. Some of the stock that the film built up over the first part of the film is squandered. Rooney Mara's performance is good; she's vulnerable and can be intimidating. Overall, Soderbergh is one of the finest directors working today, but he's a lot better in a film that is all his ilk, not just half his ilk.
Super Reviewer
Side Effects Quotes
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | Depression is an inability to construct a future |
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | Depression is an inability to construct a future. |
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | The drug , basically it helps stop the brain from telling you that you are sad . |
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | The drug , basically it helps stop the brain from telling you that you are sad. |
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | The drug, basically it helps stop the brain from telling you that you are sad. |
| Dierdre Banks: | Oh, the advantages of having a husband who can write prescriptions. What are they called again? |
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | It's beta blocker. |
| Dierdre Banks: | Hmm...is it bad that I'm doing this? |
| Dr. Jonathan Banks: | Everyone takes them. Lawyers, musicians. People going to interviews for big jobs..It doesn't make you anything you're not, it just makes it easier for you to be who you are. |
| Dierdre Banks: | Did the person do it? Are they guilty? |
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