Review of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) by Stephen E — 23 Jan 2013

"Eyes Wide Shut" gets a lot of unnecessary crap, which I think stems from the fact that it's the last film of one of cinema's great contributors. People were expecting a masterpiece, especially since Kubrick died during the film's final edit.

Now, that's a reasonable explanation for finding it a slight disappointment, but the amount of disdain for this poor film is shocking. "Eyes Wide Shut" is thrilling and ethereal; a dream-like, voyeuristic depiction of a man doomed by his own temptation.

The frustratingly deliberate pace and lack of real story make it a hard sell to modern audiences, but it's mostly these two aspects that make it so fascinating. It is frankly too long for its own good, and this becomes evident when it stumbles in its final half hour, but for some reason, I wish it was longer.

The situations that Tom Cruise finds himself in are so eerie and provocative, and I was transfixed from the moment that the film began right to the moment that it ended. I'll be the first to admit that "Eyes Wide Shut" has its problems, but it's a great film, and anyone who says otherwise was either not paying enough attention or just paying too much.

Just let yourself get sucked in and you'll find it much better than you've been led to believe.