Kubrick's Last Film Leaves Impression

by Jason R. Hewlett

Stanley Kubrick's last film has arrived. It's a big event for several reasons. For one, it's his first film in a decade...a pretty big deal in Hollywood. Secondly, it's the last film he made before he died....another big deal for the film community in general. Finally, the film was one of the longest shoots in film history and features two of our hottest stars in a tale of sexual flirtation and infidelity. All these elements combine to make it one of the must see movie events of the year.

Kubrick is a master of his craft. Whether you like him or not that must be realized. To be sure his style and pacing are not up to the high energy MTV world we inhabit but his films aren't about show and gloss. They are more often than not a slow, meticulous study of human behavior or lack of. You either love his stuff or you hate it.

With "Eyes Wide shut" that Kubrick tradition is upheld. Alot of the people at the screening I saw appeared to be confused by the film or, as one woman loudly said half way through "This is stupid." Mind you one fellow was having a hard time figuring out who Tom Cruise was so that says something about the mentality of the movie going public today.

I happened to enjoy the film, much to my surprise. I normally find Kubrick's films a bit too slow, too long, or just plain dull. To be honest "Eyes Wide Shut" could have been shorter. It has a tendency to not know when to quit while the quitting is good. However, the plot holds a certain fascination and bizarre mystery that never gets boring.

Cruise plays a married doctor that learns of his wife's (his real life wife Nicole Kidman) flirtatious behavior. This sets him off on a one night odyssey where he explores his own flirtatious desires and toys with the idea of infidelity. In the end he realizes that having an affair, or even thinking about it, can get you into a whole world of trouble.

The film has a dreamlike, voyeuristic quality that is mesmerizing. We feel like we're looking in on these character's lives and are walking through this bizarre night along with Cruise. The characters he meets and situations he explores with them are at once both odd and completely believable. Never once do we not believe what we are seeing, even a protracted, and admittedly melodramatic, orgy sequences is compelling...if not a little too long.

Casting Cruise and Kidman is a gimmicky idea that starts off distracting and then begins to work as the characters are submerged in the story. Both give compelling performances, even though I could never really see them as much more than Tom and Nicole.

In the end the film ties itself up a bit too neatly considering what transpires before it. It's a bit of a disappointment and feels like a cop-out on Kubrick's part. Still, I liked what the movie had to say and how it said it. It was also a welcome change to use my brain one more time during a movie this summer.

Rest in peace, Stanley Kubrick.

8 out of 10!