Eyes Wide Shut

Rating:
Summary: FOR ME -- NO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
Review: I'm afraid that what I look for in a movie is out of phase with the expectations of most other viewers and reviewers of this film. To really enjoy a movie, I need some sort of emotional connection to either the main characters or to the situation. I usually get this out of Kubrick's films but, for me, it was missing in EYES WIDE SHUT.

I absolutely agree with previous viewers intellectual analyses of the movie and its juxtapositioning of dream-state versus reality and discussions of Bill's obsessive reactions to his jealousy, and, yes, the mood is surrealistic. I have no arguments with any of this, in fact I wholly agree.

I am, by the way, a fan of Kubrick's, and have found something to make me love, hate, laugh, or cry in most of his other movies, and agree that he will be missed, but, in my opinion, not for EYES WIDE SHUT. I don't think that it will stand the test of time as well as many of his earlier movies.

I just couldn't find much to like (or, for that matter, to strongly dislike) in Cruise's or Kidman's characters. (Yes, I know, that wasn't the point of this movie. I realize that. But that emotional connection is important to me.) I wish I could have cared about them or their relationship, but I just didn't.

Sorry!

Rating:
Summary: This movie is the best of the decade
Review: This is by far the best movie of the decade. And thats all there is to it.

Rating:
Summary: There is Something About This One...
Review: I can't put my finger on it yet. But it's really an intense and awesome movie!!! It's one of those types to watch many times. You get more and more out of it each time you see it.

The visuals are so 'A-La'Shining-esqe' So is most of the instrumental music. The tempo of the movie is a bit drawn-out and slow, but that just adds to the intensity and depth. It's a very 'cerebral' movie.

The 'House' music was extremely mesmerizing,haunting and the surreal images and the 'Ritual'scenes we come upon is just sooooo captivating to the senses!!!

This movie seems like a blend of 'Shining' 'Jacobs Ladder' and a bit of '9 1/2 Weeks'. Cruise and Kidman put in excellent, realistic performances.

Hats off to Kubrick for another thought-provoking film. He will be sorely missed.

Rating:
Summary: A Real Mind-Trip !
Review: I was pleasantly surprised with this film; expecting little more than high-class erotica (not that there would be anything wrong with that; but Kubrick's final work should be rather heavy given his repuation). What I got was a profoundly disturbing journey into the darker recesses of the human psyche. This film is about New York yuppies having sex as much as "Apocalypse Now" is a realistic account of the Vietnam War. Eyes Wide Shut uses the sexual frustration of its characters as a springboard to explore something more interesting and less definable. The film starts out in the same idealized upper class Manhattan we have seen in hundreds of films. Being a Kubrick film, everythig looks absolutely stunning. The lavish sets seem to shimmer; the actors seem haloed by beautiful light. The story starts out with ordinary problems and ordinary feelings (jealousy,etc.). Then it takes a trip through the looking glass. Like Roman Polanski's "Chinatown", things become more and more mysterious as we go along, and litle reassurance is offered at the end. After the odd, non-linear, emotionally evocative plot unfolds, we are left with a feeling that all is not right with the world--that a layer has been pulled back and revealed secrets that could severely damage the knower. As everyone knows by now, the most arrseting image of the film is an unexplained ritual preformed at night in a lovely upstate mansion. Unthinking viewers usually describe it as simply an "orgy" scene; but what exactly is going on? People wear elaborate masks and sometimes robes (some are naked aside from the masks). They seem to lose all sense of self and personality while playing out this masked role. None of them talk or socialize. They either stand around in a daze or act out stiff, stereotyped motions at the direction of a man dressed as a parody of a Catholic Cardinal. Why? We never know. They never seem to attain any real pleasure or release from the behavior which seems purely compulsive and empty (though strangely beautiful like an Aztec ritual or something). The hero who has blundered onto the ritual is forbidden to talk about it and also forbidden to join the clique/cult/gang/whatever; even though he becomes aware that some of his friends regularly participate. The "real meaning" of the film may be debated forever. It is destined to take its place in history as a surreal, challenging classic.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, bad marketing campaign.
Review: Eyes Wide Shut was ill-suited for the summer movie corridor. It has no explosions, no running, shouting, or a single gunshot. What it has are long scenes in which characters talk to one another. Slowly and carefully.

The film was marketed as having white-hot sex scenes and plenty of gratuitous nudity, while it has neither. There is plenty of naked flesh, don't get me wrong, but in exactly the opposite way that the ads make it appear. This is not a movie about being sexy and naked -- it takes a more dispassionate, analytical approach to sexuality. The result was disappointment for the many people who bought tickets looking for some high-class porn.

The film is a meditation on sexuality and how it relates to marriage, death, and money. It's a fascinating commentary on modern life, and a rare movie that dares to examine sex as impassionately as any other issue.

The tension in the plot and the issues that the film discusses aren't telegraphed to the audience, they're hinted at in the dialog. There is no neat resolution at the end, life simply goes on. The subtlety of the plot doesn't mean Kubrick didn't have anything to say, however, it means the viewer has to do some work as well.

The directing and cinematography alone would be worth the price of admission without the social commentary. The sets are an integral part of the movie; they breathe and glow and live. Kubrick was a master director, and he uses long shots and dissolves to great effect. Cruise and Kidman are at their best, and the supporting cast is also strong. It's Kubrick's magic work with the camera that holds the film together.

All in all, definitely worth seeing for the un-uptight. It's possible to watch this film and actually think about it for hours afterward. Adjust your attention span and expectations, and you'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Psycho-Sexual Message Misunderstood
Review: The message of this film has been glossed over by most reviewers.

It is basically this: sex is dangerous, unpredictable, tortuous, horrible, hurtful.

Not in the blatant sense of the act itself, but in all the complex subtleties and consequences.

At the party, Cruise's rich friend gets into deep water when he tries to have sex in an upstairs bedroom with a junkie.

Later, Kidman and Cruise psychologically tear each other to pieces over some innocent flirting which has happened at the party. The bottom line is they were both tempted and enticed by strangers into possibly having SEX. Nothing has happened, but the mere thought of infidelity (of SEX) drives these two people almost mad. The mere talk of Sex is a poison.

Later Cruise narrowly avoids having SEX with a prostitute, with whom coupling could have meant death.

Cruise is almost violently assaulted on the street when his SEX preference is questioned.

At a costume shop, the owner uses his daughter's SEXual lure to entrap two Japanese businessmen, and keep them locked up like common criminals, begging for their freedom. The result is again entrapment...imprisonment.

Cruise's piano player friend admits into being responsible for five boys (all his) on a piano player's salary; the result of SEX with his wife, of course.

Finally, at the orgy, Cruise comes within a hair's breadth of actually dying due to his SEXual curiosity. The people present are themselves obedient prisoners of the strict SEX orgy ritual, not free to carouse and enjoy much of anything. The orgy scene is more like a grim sexual slave camp than a party.

Of course, most heart wrenching is the eminent destruction of Cruise's relationship with his wife, all due to the couple's obsession with each other's SEXual thoughts. The point is well made. We demand complete loyalty from our lovers, yet neither is capable of translating this loyalty into complete emotional dedication. Even in marriage we still desire others, that is the truth. A truth so hurtful we never dare talk to our lovers about it. Cruise and Nicole make the mistake of believing themselves liberal enough to talk freely about it, and in so doing, destroy themselves.

There is so much subjection, secrecy and discipline in SEX. These exist to counter the fear, doubt and overpowering emotions and the sheer danger of it. Get rid of the first group and the second group will eat you alive.

This was the the real message of Eyes Wide Shut.

Rating:
Summary: THIS MOVIE REALLY SUCKS
Review: What a fitting title for this load of crap....162 minutes of pure torture.

I might be the biggest Kubrick fan..I even liked his minor second film "Killer's Kiss". I know for sure that if he hadn't died, Kubrick would have tinkered with the editing. He did the same with both 2001 and Dr. Strangelove.

If you're watching this for sex, you're going to be disappointed. There is nudity, but it's so joyless.

If only Harvey Keitel hadn't had a conflict in his schedule...he might have been able to salvage it. Instead, we got Sydney Pollack, who can be a good actor at times (see "Husbands and Wives" and "Tootsie"), but just seems out of place in this film.

I know for a fact that Tom Cruise is a great actor, but even I was wondering if I was wrong. (I wasn't. He was sensational in "Magnolia")

"Barry Lyndon" runs almost 3 1/2 hours, yet it seems shorter. The long take technique really doesn't cut it here.

Larry Smith's photography is the only good thing in this film. Too bad it wasn't in another film.

One star is too generous. I'd give it minus 100 stars if I could. It'd be the worst film of the year, but "Deuce Bigelow" is in a league by itself.

Let me know what u think. I can be found at [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Haunting filmmaking by the
Review: Stanley Kubrick's final movie is a dream-like surealistic odissey about the differences in the sexual desires of men and women, and their places in the world and society. Brilliantly done, with some of the best cinematography i've seen, but what stands above everything are the performances of Cruise and Kidman, topping every work they have done before.

Rating:
Summary: What was Stan smoking?
Review: "Eyes Wide Shut" makes no sense whatsoever. The only reason I gave it two stars is because it somehow managed to make more sense than "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

From beginning to end this film just meandered around. It seemed like the actors were just being placed into scenes, rather than being compelled or driven by a story or cause.

I don't know where else to go with this review. Not that I am enthralled by either, but Tom and Kim were wasted on this story. Not Kubrick's greatest. See "2001", "Full Metal Jacket", or "A Clockwork Orange" if you want a good Kubric movie.

If curiosity has the best of you, fight it, or do no more than rent it to see the madness for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting final film from a visionary genius
Review: Like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut clearly evinces Stanley Kubrick's obsession with the visual presentation of his films. Unlike other filmmakers of his time, Kubrick was not afraid to exploit all of the elements of cinema that make it distinct from other forms of artistic expression. In a rare, early interview, Kubrick even admitted to placing plot and characterization below cinematography and musical score in terms of importance. He was far more interested in creating a mood than in telling a story, and it is precisely for this reason that most audiences often find his films confusing and even surreal. Eyes Wide Shut is certainly no exception. Stylistically, the film contains many of Kubrick's trademark techniques: the roving steadicam, perfectly composed frames, long takes, and slow, methodical tracking shots. But what is particularly striking is the ghostly haze through which we see all of the action. Most of the main set pieces are bathed in warm and expansive light, and the colors appear supersaturated and effusive. Kubrick takes full advantage of the film's December setting to adorn his sets with the almost menacing glow of Christmas lights. Notably, the most prominent color in the film is red -- a long-time Kubrick favorite, but particularly pertinent here in that it signifies adultery.

Thematically, Eyes Wide Shut goes far beyond telling a simple tale of sexual revenge and jealousy. In the midst of the drama surrounding the Harford marriage, Kubrick skillfully interweaves an almost Hitchcockian suspense yarn involving the death of a mysterious woman who may or may not have lost her life trying to save Bill's. At the same time, Kubrick actively blurs the line that separates reality from fantasy and toys with the intriguing notion that sometimes it is possible for a fantasy to be more "real" in its ramifications than reality itself. In a key dialogue near the end of the film at the home of Victor Ziegler (played convincingly by film director Sydney Pollack), Bill even begins to question the legitimacy of the bizarre sights that he witnessed the night before. In this sense, the visual haze through which the film is presented aptly reflects the dreamlike quality of Bill's late night escapades.

For a filmmaker notorious for populating his movies with cold, dehumanized characters (some argue that H.A.L. -- the supercomputer that goes berserk in 2001 -- had more personality than any of the human characters in that film), Kubrick manages to pull some strikingly intimate performances from his two leads. Cruise's subtle intensity invites us to look beyond his natural charm and boyish good looks and down into his eyes at the dark, reckless nature that lurks beneath his controlled facade. Kidman's portrayal of the gloomily unsatisfied and aloof Alice Harford comes close to brilliance. The monologue in which she relates to Bill her deepest and darkest sexual fantasy is devastating in its unsettling potency. Kidman's stroke of genius is that she is able to convince the viewer that her fantasies pose just as much of a threat to her marriage as any tangible act of infidelity. The film is also peppered with fine supporting performances, most notably from Pollack as Victor Ziegler, but also from Alan Cumming, who is hysterically funny as the hotel desk clerk enamoured with the dashing "Dr. Bill," and LeeLee Sobieski, as a precocious nymphet whose eyes radiate adult sexual ferocity.

So, what is Eyes Wide Shut really about? It is about the masks that people don to conceal their reckless, carnal impulses, and the bewilderment that follows when those masks are suddenly removed. It is about the blurred line that divides reality from fantasy, and the foolishness of assuming that one is inherently any more or less "real" than the other. It is about the questionable moral fabric that binds the institution of marriage together, and how sometimes it is essential to tug at the fibers of that fabric to see what gives way and why. It is a film that ultimately poses more questions than answers, yet provides all of the raw materials necessary for a viewer to fashion together some relevant meaning, however illusory.