Disappointing at best

Rating: 5/10 (21 July 2004)

Before I am harshly attacked verbally for this review, let me begin by stating that I think Kubrick has done some brilliant work. I absolutely loved "Space Oddyssey", "Lolita", and "The Shining", but something about this one didn't sit right. The plot sounds like an interesting idea: the leader of a terrible violent gang is arrested and forced to partake in a new form of criminal therapy. The end result is that he becomes ill at the very thought of a violent or sexual action, and as a side-effect suffers the same effect upon hearing Beethoven's music. So why would such an excellent and creative idea turn up such bad results? The "ultra-violence" is indeed disturbing, but to be honest I couldn't care less about any of these characters. Malcolm MacDowell does a mediocre job playing the main character and hence I found it hard to even care about the story. I found the movie shocking and disturbing, but not good. Disturbing and graphic movies I've enjoyed before such as "Se7en" or "Reservoir Dogs" managed to create characters I was interested in and could care about. However the below-average performance of Alex completely negated any and all chances of enjoying this film. If I didn't feel the need to sit through it all and not form a full opinion until the end, I would've turned the film off before falling asleep from complete boredom with the characters.