Rating: 
Summary: Keep an open mind when watching
Review: The first time I saw this movie I was disappointed with it. There was such secrecy about it, and the one clip they release to the press is a sex scene with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman naked; you go into it thinking it's going to be something it's not. BAD IDEA. I found myself being bored with it and wondering when it was going to move at the pace the marketing suggested it would. You leave the theater wondering what the hype was about.I saw it a second time, however, in a hotel while I was on business. This time, rather than anticipating the scenes that the censors took out, rather than assuming I already knew what the plot was, I could watch the movie for what it is. And it is, despite the reviews, a very very good movie. Tom Cruise's acting could have relied a little more on emotion rather than gestures, but Nicole Kidman's performance was exact. A final note: the 'blocking' during the orgy scene really does look ridiculous, and while it was understandable for theaters to get the R rating, there is no reason why they could not have put out two different versions on video, the R and the NC17. Anyone who thinks placing people in front of the action somehow makes it acceptable for children to watch is sadly mistaken. 'Dumbing down' the climax of the movie simply takes away from the suspense. The censors need to realize that it is the ideas, rather than the actual images caught on film, that determine what age group a movie is appropriate for.
Rating:
Summary: An intense, mysterious, thought-provoking cinematic journey
Review: "Eyes Wide Shut" is a colorful, deeply-layered psychological study of infidelity in married couples. The late, great Stanley Kubrick captures with rich cinematic nuances the drama and sexual tension between men and women. This haunting, dream-like odyssey is punctuated by Jocelyn Pook's moody music score. This was the best film of 1999. But it is not your standard Cruise/Kidman fare. No matter what, "Eyes Wide Shut" will never be quite what you expect it to be. Kubrick fans are likely to appreciate it more than Cruise/Kidman fans. But try it anyway. This film is best enjoyed when a viewer brings an open mind to it. View it at least twice. In every sense, "Eyes Wide Shut" is an R-rated film for mature adults.
Rating:
Summary: UNDER-RATED
Review: I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REVIEWER (SEE BELOW). I LIKED EVERYTHING ABOUT "EYES WIDE SHUT": THE SOFT LIGHTING (USED FREQUENTLY IN EUROPEAN FILMS AND SELDOM IN AMERICAN FILMS), THE CHRIS ISAAK MUSIC, THE SETS, THE COSTUMES, THE PACING, THE WRITING, THE ACTING AND ESPECIALLY THE DIRECTING! A SIGN OF A GREAT FILM IS WHEN MORE THAN ONE INTERPRETATION CAN BE DRAWN FROM IT. MINE IS ABOUT THE TOM CRUISE CHARACTER. CRUISE PORTRAYS A SUCCESSFUL DOCTOR WHO THINKS HE IS HAPPILY MARRIED UNTIL ONE NIGHT WHEN HIS WIFE DROPS A BOMB INTO HIS WELL-ORDERED LIFE. NOW WHAT IS CRUISE SUPPOSED TO DO? SHOULD HE GET EVEN? SHOULD HE GET DIVORCED? SHOULD HE JUST FORGET ABOUT THE WHOLE THING? THE ODYSSEY THAT CRUISE UNDERGOES IS SIMILAR TO THE SELF-DISCOVERY THAT HUCK FINN OR ULYSSES EXPERIENCES. TO SUM UP EVERYTHING THAT I'VE BEEN SAYING--"EYES WIDE SHUT" IS A MASTERPIECE AND SHOULD NOT BE MISSED.
Rating: 
Summary: Not without flaws, but always captivating
Review: Many viewers thought that Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" was the most disappointing film of the year (perhaps aside from "Episode I"). I think that this is the result of wrong expectations. People wstormed the theaters to see explicit sex-scenes featuring Tom Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman. The rather stupid trailer further enhanced this believe. "Eyes Wide Shut" is rather an absorbing story about the odyssee of a man on the streets of New York. This man is Tom Cruise who is out to find an outlet for his jealousy ignited by a confession of his wife. It is essential to be interested in this man and his motives, otherwise you will be bored since this film runs over 150 minutes. I was fascinated not only by Tom Cruise's nocturnal adventures but also by Kubrick's brilliant directing. The music was, as always in Kubrick's films, a major plus, as was the acting (yes, also Tom Cruise). My main criticism is the too explicit ending and the overdone scene where Nicole Kidman wakes up from a dream an tells her husband about it, with tears in her eyes. "Eyes Wide Shut" is a worthy final effort in an amazing career. Perhaps the reputation of the picture will rise over the years. After all, that was the case with many films by Stanley Kubrick.
Rating: 
Summary: hyped tension
Review: Okay, let's state for the record in all fairness, that this film fell victim to media overkill. The hype for this film was beyond necessity. It wasn't like Kurbrick knew he was going to pass on into the next life and therefore had to make THE best film of his career. That said....this film still fell short of many if not all of Kubrick's other films. The film seemed to be a series of cliche after cliche; the foreign "ladies man" trying to presuade Nicole from her husband, the two ditsy modles oogling over Cruise, the over the top jealosy trip over something pretty trivial in reality that NEVER happened between Nicole and some unkown sailor (which still doesn't justify anyman hunting for a Hooker to get back at his wife), Cruise flashing his Medical credentials like he was from the freakn' NYPD, the very tame orgy scene (I saw the unedited verison in England....and still no big deal)and the endless vacuume of empty space that Kubrick fills his films with that normally work. The dialog was pat, the acting uninspired, and the plot far too wobbly and at times embarassing to fathom. Which is too bad. The basic premise of the film is great and could have had a tremendous impact if approached in a different direction. It makes em suspecious that maybe Kubrick was not finished with the film alfter all and some tinkering went on a Warner as a kind of "justice" for all the years of yeilding to the master. The cinematography was as usual stunning but juxtaposed against that dull and thudding orgy scene and that terrible dialog "you must leave this place. you are in great danger...." just made me think that there was some inside joke going in that I missed. The best scene that had the most impact was the most down played and that was the scenes between Tom and the hooker. The best tension was created during this, with the subject of adultry and the topic of aids but was dropped by the way side and over shadowed in the rest of the films trappings. And was anyone really supposed to buy that last line from Nicole? Maybe I missed some vital scene or bit of dialog....but sadly I don't think that was the case.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Filmaker of the 20th Century...Stanley Kubrick.
Review: One of the best films of the year. Stanley Kubrick delivers another masterpiece, and considering the options on the DVD release, I am sure NO one wants to see it Widescreen or in the Unrated version before Kubrick had to digitally alter it!
Rating:
Summary: 1999's future classic--"It's not about sex"
Review: 1999 was one of the greatest years in recent memory for film. Yet Eyes Wide Shut is all but absent from the end-of-the-year awards ceremonies and most critics lists. The first thing to bear in mind are that this film was hyped way beyond necessity. As if the general public had any interest in the "Kubrick" listed below "Cruise" and "Kidman". To them this was just another Big Actor's next Big Movie. Passing it off like a "real Hollywood couple gets busy on the big screen" heightened expectations for something Kubrick wasn't trying to achieve. It suffered the same audience reaction as The Phantom Menace, and made only a fraction of the money. Critics seemed to be lining up to take potshots at this film. Why? Recent history shows us that all of Kubrick's films from 2001 onward have been attacked critically, and subsequently hailed as classic years later. The same is true of most of Orson Welles' work. Few critics took the time to see this movie more than once before spewing their venom. A filmmaker like Kubrick is not going for direct emotional contact with the audience. He is aiming far deeper, asking the viewer to reflect on not only the images, but the themes, and the emotional investments of the characters. The subtlety is not something common in today's films, and something critics apparently can't process quick enough to meet a press deadline. For all those complain that the film isn't sexy or erotic enough are missing the point completely. It's not about sex. It's about many other things, some of which linger in the background, some that aren't noticeable on the initial viewing. Kubrick raises questions about our institution of marriage, the nature of faith, commitment, temptation. That most in the audience weren't willing to meet Kubrick, Cruise, and Kidman halfway in this meditation isn't a comment on the quality on the filmmaking, it's a shortcoming of the sensory-deadened society. If Kubrick had been more in touch with today's film culture, would he have bothered to give us this complex of an experience? Let's thank him for his seclusion. A NOTE on the DVD not being letterboxed: Kubrick (again, like Welles) preferred the aspect ratio of television, and left extra space in his frame for their widescreen theatrical showings (some are letterboxed on Home Video as well). The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut are meant to be seen in the full-screen standard format, and therefore aren't available in letterbox, so don't feel you're being cheated out of any compositional content. Unfortunately you are being cheated by Warner Bros' refusal to remove the digital figures blocking the orgy scenes, inserted for theatrical release to secure the "R" rating. Only in America...
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly good if you're willing to suspend all credulity
Review: I've you're willing to suspend all credulity, you might buy into the premises of this movie. I found it mcuh too far-fetched. 1. The secret organization's use of a "live" musician, for starters. If they are so hung up on secrecy, why didn't they use recorded music? It does take place in modern times, after all; this isn't a Victorian sex club, although the movie steals shamelessly from the Victorian porno genre. 2. Kidman's "Once glance from the naval officer and I was willing to give up everything" is a bit much, unless she's a total airhead and if she is, what's the point in caring anything about her? 3. Cruise's fixation on that incident, and his response to it, is also totally silly. It happend years ago; Kidman's character never actually *did* anything unfaithful; it makes Cruise's character into such a self-centered twerp I couldn't care anything about him, either. 4. The movie's treatment of sex displays such sick attitudes that it completely disgusted me. Maybe that's the point, but if so, why would I ever want to watch it? "Debbie Does Dallas" has a healthier view of sex, for heaven's sake! Sorry, folks. This turkey was not for me. If a movie director wants to document purient obsessions I suppose that's "art," but if so he ought to at least make it semi-believable.
Rating:
Summary: A masterful study of jealousy and denial
Review: Regardless of all the individuals who did not like the film, or called it "pointless" - this is a truly thought provoking and masterful study of the fragile equilibrium that exists between man and woman; husband and wife. A must see for any serious film/Kubrick-buff.
Rating:
Summary: An intense, mysterious, thought-provoking cinematic journey
Review: "Eyes Wide Shut" is a wonderful, deeply-layered psychological study of infidelity in married couples. The late, great Stanley Kubrick captures with rich cinematic nuances the drama and sexual tension between men and women. This haunting, dream-like odyssey is punctuated by Jocelyn Pook's moody music score. Though this was my best film of 1999, it is not your standard Cruise/Kidman fare. No matter what, "Eyes Wide Shut" will never quite be what you expect it to be. Kubrick fans will likely appreciate it much more. But try it anyway. It is best enjoyed by bringing your own thoughts and interpretations to it. And viewing it at least twice. In every sense "Eyes Wide Shut" is a mature adult film.
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