Review of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) by David S — 18 Dec 2013

There is something incredibly disturbing about this film and I'm not talking about it's length! Those coming into it expecting a bonk-fest will be disappointed (although there is plenty of nudity and sex) but Kubrick is more interested in one man's quest to deal with his own sexual issues and self-discovery.

That this man is Tom Cruise automatically makes this interesting and he is good here, although his character's habit of repeating a question before responding gets very irritating towards the end.

Like The Shining the atmosphere Kubrick builds drives the film and this is never more so than at the masked party scene. For that scene alone this film deserves 4 stars. Perhaps the whole thing goes on too long and it certainly isn't his best film but it fascinates me after several viewings and I know I'll come back to it again and again in the future.