Grade:  B+

Director:  Stanley Kubrick		Released:  July 1999
Writer:  from Arthur Schnitzler's novel		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman		Running time:  159 minutes

Ratings System

I can hardly recall a film that had more rumors and buzz (good and bad) surrounding it's opening than Eyes Wide Shut.  Maybe you heard the one about Kubrick hiring someone to teach Tom and Nicole how to realistically be intimate with each other (despite the fact they were married at the time).  And I'm sure you're aware that after Kubrick's death, the studio digitally altered orgy scenes to get an 'R' rating from the MPAA.  On that one I would call foul play on the studio.  In my opinion, it's a crime to alter someone's film like that, in other countries it was released uncensored, why can't Americans see it uncensored?  Which brings me to another topic ... what's so horrible about an NC-17 rating?  Why do studios avoid it like the plague?  Do you really think anybody younger than 17 went to see this in the theatre anyway?  It's obvious from the box office take that not that many people saw it in theatres.  If anything, it seems to me like people would be more interested in seeing something rated NC-17.  As in, "Gee, it got an NC-17 rating?  Maybe there's something controversial in this movie I might want to see."

It should be said that I'm not really a Kubrick fan.  I don't care much for A Clockwork Orange, The Shining is good but not great, the first half of Full Metal Jacket is excellent, the second half only ordinary.  That said, Eyes Wide Shut is my favorite Kubrick film (however, I would have loved to see him do A.I.).  It's the most consistent of his films, and in my mind one of the most thoughtful.

I don't think the acting is anything to write home about.  It's fine, but not spectacular, and downright wooden at times.  I might attribute that to the fact that Kubrick is well-known for shooting take, after take, after take.  Mainly, the essence of this film is the storytelling.  The visuals.  The things that are not said.  And the assumptions made (by the characters and the viewers alike).

Try to name another dramatic film that was released five years surrounding this one, that takes a shot at looking deep into the dynamic of marriage, fantasy, insecurity, and illusion; and does it with such high quality and subtlety.  Truth is, I'd rather watch a hundred Eyes Wide Shut's than see one more cookie-cutter Hollywood formula flick.

- crocoPuffs