Rating: 
Summary: Eyes should have stayed shut
Review: How very sad that the great master Kubrick should have this awful mess as his final offering to the world. Cruise is impossibly unbelieveable and Kidman shows her "talents" as it were several times. The score is also pitiful. One of the worst films I have ever seen. Definitely a rental.
Rating:
Summary: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Review: Was it real? Was it a dream? what the heck? All the people who gave it 4 or 5 stars seem to think they are deep thinkers. I saw the movie and i think you are all reading way to much into it. I mean really the movie is about a bunch of rich people who have orgys in secret places. This movie was painfully long and very perverse. To be honest if it wern't for Kudro or whatever his name is I dont think anyone would like it. I think some people force themselves to like it because they think there impressng somebody.
Rating: 
Summary: Interpretations of Alice Through The Looking Glass...
Review: In this excellent film, Alice "eyes" the big picture...At the party Alice asks Bill if he knows anyone there. Look again at her eyes when she asks Bill this -- maybe she knows at least one person there -- Nick Nightingale. Bill wants to introduce her to him. You can see Alice doesn't want to meet Nick. Look at her eyes. She says she has to go to the bathroom, but does she go? Alice knows Nick. Alice's familiarity with Nick may be logical because in the film's first shot Alice disrobes in a way similar to the women in the orgy ritual. (Nick's played piano at orgies before.) In the first shot a red carpet rug is on the floor and tennis rackets are nearby. Two shots later -- Bill is in the same place -- the rug is gone, the lighting is darker (symbolism -- Bill is in the dark about Alice) and a golfbag, not tennis rackets, are there. A signal that the opening shot of Alice might have been her undressing at a time altogether different from the time she readies herself to go with Bill to Ziegler's party. Alice may have been shedding her dress after returning late one night from a past orgy. I don't think she was trying on a dress for the Ziegler party, as if you look again you'll see on the bed all the "accessories" Alice is taking for the Ziegler bash. The opening shot might be of Alice undressing just before Bill returns from his "journey." When you consider that Alice's "dream" is similar to Bill's "real" orgy adventure, her "dream" needn't be a dream at all. (At the end, Bill says to Alice "no dream is ever just a dream.") Alice in her "nightmare" might be recalling the sex she had at a prior orgy, and presenting it as a nightmare -- indeed it would be -- to the marriage. ("I was f****** other men...!" Note the cruel juxtaposition of a smiling Alice looking up at Bill as he thinks the quoted phrase in these parentheses. What a moment!) With the mask on the pillow, Alice is forcing Bill to confess to his "affairs." She might welcome Bill having an extramarital affair -- it may excite her. She smiles with a hint of relief/approval when seeing Bill with the models as she dances with Sandor Szavost. Alice may have cheated before. (Szavost says marriage "makes deception a necessity for both parties.") Perhaps Alice believes that having an extramarital affair "strengthens" the marriage -- at "Eyes" end, it seems to. (Alice says of her fantasy with the naval officer that she would have given up everything, yet at the time her love for Bill was "both tender and sad" and that Bill was "dearer than ever.") Alice wants Bill to be jealous of her -- it's her "turn-on". Alice is angry at Bill when he is not. ("Why aren't you ever jealous of me?, she shouts.) It's interesting to note in the same scene that when Bill says he "would never lie" to Alice, his eyes are closed. Alice later says, "if you men....only knew." Bill doesn't know that Alice might know Nick and Ziegler from previous orgies. She seems to know Nick -- Nick's been blindfolded at other orgies and worn the same suit at the orgy we see as he wears at the Ziegler party. Alice -- if not at the orgy that Bill was at -- has attended these orgies before. It's unclear whose mind we are inside, or whose dream world/reality we inhabit -- Bill's or Alice's. It would have been good to see Alice more (and not necessarily see more of Alice -- there's a difference) in "Eyes Wide Shut." The film still works -- better, even (though we'll never know for sure.) It works because we see many manifestations of "Alice". For example, Marion -- has "dirty-blonde red" hair, styled like Alice's. The topless woman patient Bill examines is a "redhead" -- her hair is styled like Alice's (note the look the patient gives Bill after he examines her -- and remember Alice's argument with Bill when she asks whether a woman patient thinks about Bill and sex when Bill examines her. Bill says that "sex is the last thing on this hypothetical woman patient's mind.") Sally is also a "redhead". Her hair is styled like Alice's. Alice is omnipresent -- either in Bill's subconscious, or in his dreams. These "likenesses of Alice" function as a kind of symbolic womens' intuition -- Alice "knows" Bill is "cheating" -- every opportunity Bill has to cheat, he does so with someone who "looks" like Alice, who knows every risk Bill is taking, risks that could destroy him (Domino's HIV) and the marriage. Even with Domino -- who doesn't resemble Alice -- Bill is "interrupted" -- by Alice herself! (Her phone call.) Alice IS everywhere! Bill has been searching for a way to "get back" at Alice but has really been searching for Alice. Bill's fear of Alice's "fantasy" affair unleashes a need for discovery (of the "cheating" opportunities around him) not revenge. Bill discovers, and confesses. The mirror scene of Alice and Bill is through the eyes of Alice -- Alice through the looking glass (by Lewis Carroll!) We see Bill all the time -- but Alice has her eyes wide open. She's always watching him. One last thing: as Bill journeys to "where the rainbow ends," (it ends at Alice -- Bill turns off the Christmas tree lights in the apartment -- these lights have also been everywhere) note scenes where a rainbow crescent appears. Especially when Bill and Sally stand closely against each other. On DVD you clearly see the rainbow effect on Bill's dark suit.
Rating:
Summary: If you only knew
Review: In my opinion this is Kubrick's best. This oddessy takes the viewer through many different facets of human sexuality by following a man who is jealous and disturbed by his wifes thoughts of another person. The cinmeatography is breath taking, and it is probably the best preformance of both Cruise's and Kiddman's carriers. It is well worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Your Eyes Would Prefer To Be Shut ! ! !
Review: This movie is a waste of time and money. I don't think that the movie deserved that much attention. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are the reasons that people went to see the film...but it isn't their fault, the film was just really..well, your eyes would prefer to keep shut..mine were anyways, I slept through most of it.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, so Kubrick didn't save his best for last...
Review: This was still an excellent film in many ways! And certain parts of it were really surprisingly erotic! I thought Tom & Nicole were well-cast, and even though I left the theater somewhat mystified as to what-the-heck-was-that-all-about, I still enjoyed it, and was (as always) impressed with Kubrick's unique style!
Rating:
Summary: Lost in America
Review: It's not that surprising that this film was so wretchedly hated by mainstream America. It should have been released in art houses, not as a heavily hyped Hollywood summer blockbuster. The title "Eyes Wide Shut" seems to be Kubrick's way of screaming to the audience that this film is following a dream structure rather than a narrative one, and should be viewed as such. Of course, most people probably didn't bother thinking about the title... they were expecting a sexy thriller starring Hollywood's most glamorous couple... and they normally don't need to think about titles or much of anything when seeing a movie anyway. I don't really blame them. Hell, Kubrick should have known this would happen... I don't know if he was just playing a joke on the audience or once. Once the hype and expectations are stripped away, EWS emerges as an emerges as an eerie, surreal, journey into a man's sexual and marrital insecurites. It's not about sex, it's about the thought of sex. The journey is triggered and driven by the realization that his wife has had sexual thoughts that weren't of him. He is tempted by and seeks sexual enticement, until it truly becomes threatening. If you think metaphors are boring and/or pretentious, this movie ain't for you, because the movie speaks in them almost exclusively. The threat isn't really a threat to his physical well being, but a threat to the life with his family that he has established and cares for. One scene that bugs me is the poolroom "explanation" scene, because it's not what the film is going after. It almost seems to be there to make fun of such expository scenes in movies, because it rambles on and explains so much without really explaining anything at all. It's almost clever in that way, but I thought it was out of place. Other than that, it's not of Kubrick's best films, but it deserves way more credit than the mainstream is willing to give it.
Rating:
Summary: Strange but interesting.....
Review: I saw this movie when it came to the theater, and I really liked it. Kubrick's films are not for everyone, he appeals to more of the visual and even your own imagination to be able to draw a conclusion about what he is trying to say.He is a true genius and will be missed.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful and Frightening Dream
Review: Eyes Wide Shut is not an easy film. It is not for those who search for an evening of nice entertainment guaranteed by two ever-cute stars (Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise). It is not a thriller, neither an erotic drama, as the hype that preceded the film might have suggested; rather, it is a chillingly disturbing sensory experience that can only be fully appreciated by letting it absorb you into its strange world. The film tells a story of a man wandering the nightly streets of New York, haunted by his wife's confession that she has fantasized about another man. However, the plot is not important here; what counts are the themes it raises. Eyes Wide Shut seems to appeal to viewer's senses through its erotic imagery, yet it is an ice-cold, analytical study of sexuality and the lack of communication in a relationship. It examines the way that sexuality and emotions are connected or disconnected maybe more powerfully than any other film has done before. The nightly journey of Cruise's character is a frightening and wonderful one, and could rather be seen as a journey through man's subconscious than a physical journey on the streets of New York that we see. It is a beautiful nightmare that remains inside the viewer for a long time afterwards. Personally, I have rarely been as impressed by any film as I was by Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. It reminded me of David Lynch's Blue Velvet, which also left me speechless and made me look at the world in a whole new way. It is truly unfortunate for this masterpiece to have been misunderstood by so many reviewers and viewers. I believe time will gain it the place it deserves in the film history: the brilliant testament of a genious filmmaker who knew how to get the best out of two actors whose careers have mostly been driven forward by their star images, when they (especially Kidman) have so much more to give.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing
Review: Eyes Wide Shut was creatively filmed but the story was unsettling. Kidman and Cruise are great performers but the story seemed more psychological than it did sexual. By the way, was there any real point? If there was, it was lost on me.
| 
