Review of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) by Joey O — 01 Jul 2010

A masterpiece. Perhaps one of the greatest films ever made, and perhaps one of the most under appreciated in the last 10, 20, 30 years. Scene for scene, shot for shot, nothing about this movie is bad.

Nicole Kidman turns in the best performance of her career, and while Tom Cruise is also very good, he pales in comparison to his wife at the time. This film is very deliberate in its approach, leaving nothing to chance...the story is compelling and grasps you rather quickly, even if it seems to move at a crawl.

This movie represents good, quality film-making. From the camera angles used, to the lighting, to the acting, to the dialogue, to the direction, to the pacing, to the score of the film...EVERYTHING is top notch.

Stanley Kubrick has managed to do something that most filmmakers are unable to, make great films it seems every time out. When looking at his body of work, it is understandable if it gets lost in the shuffle of one masterpiece or the other, but in the context of movies being made by people who aren't Kubrick, it stands tall above just about everything else out there.

While it isn't perfect, it is about 99.9% perfect...a true masterpiece that can only be appreciated by true film lovers.