Eyes Wide Shut (1999)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Eyes Wide Shut" was Kubrick's last complete and released picture, marketed solely on the amount of sex and nudity it would contain. Well, the marketing was right. There was a lot of sex and nudity, but as for complex characters and an interesting plot...there was none evident. In fact, I would have settled for a non-confusing order of events, but this film couldn't even do THAT. The movie is about a husband and wife, Dr. William Harford, played by Tom Cruise (Far and Away), and Alice Harford, played by Nicole Kidman (Far and Away), who are torn apart by each other's infidelity. When William hears his wife kind of cheated on him with some sailor--I think, he goes on a search for a sexual experience of the same caliber to get even with her--I think. Eventually, Dr. Bill stumbles onto a secret society where old men come together with masks and watch members screw a bunch of hookers; however, these members are desperate to keep their existence and identities a secret, even if they have to kill anyone who infiltrates them. The rest of the movie spends screen time on Cruise's character, thinking people from this sex cult are following him--I think. The picture WAY TOO LONG and all over the place. Kubrick introduces characters who have nothing to say and have nothing to do with the story at hand, but for some reason, he spends an un-godly amount of screentime on them. Some characters are introduced and depicted in one manner, then when they are reintroduced, both their inner and outer motivations have completely done a 180, and the viewer is left thinking, "What the f**k is THAT guy's problem NOW!" The material boiled down to a message of "If you're married, don't cheat on each other." That could've been told in 30 minutes, but Kubrick being Kubrick--and pretending to be a cinematic genius, "Eyes Wide Shut" took two hours and 39 minutes. There are however a few good things about it. There's a good amount of nudity and sex. In fact, before the title even appears on screen, Kidman herself is seen getting completely naked. AWESOME!!!!! She appears naked several times in fact. DOUBLE AWESOME!!!! In more fact, one of the picture's original teasers has her completely naked from behind, dancing at a vanity, pulling her ear rings off. Then, Cruise comes in and starts rubbing her breasts. JACKPOT!!!! The shot closes in on Kidman's expression, showing there's something devious on her mind. I was wrong...maybe Kubrick IS a genious. Outside of a very naked and beautiful Nicole Kidman and a couple no-name actresses appearing naked as well, this picture has absolutely no worth. This picture is so bad, I was glad to know Kubrick had died, so he couldn't produce another piece of crap like this ever again. So, there it is. It sucks, but Kidman is naked a lot. Make your own decision. Benn - Where's the Humanity? |