An enigmatic dream...

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 1999)

Eyes wide shut is the kind of movie that is made for discussing. I watched it in a nearly deserted theater and halfway through the film some people were starting to joke and laugh due to loss of interest while others (myself included) continued to watch with no little interest. Some of the comments overheard were "what the hell was that?" and "magnificent..."
A lush, visual movie filmed in amber and golden tones with a dark background, much like the plot itself: set in beautiful magnificent scenery, while darkly brooding, corrupt characters dance about.
Are our dreams less important than our actions? Can anyone have a meaningful relationship in today's society? If you have thought and fantasized of being unfaithful instead of actually trying to be unfaithful are you less accountable for your actions?
These are some of the questions Eyes Wide Shut asks. And in true Kubrik fashion those questions linger long after the movie is over. That is the true importance of this movie and what gives it its appeal: it has substance along with aesthetics while many other art house movies (which eyes wide shut is no matter how comercialized WB tries to make it) offer a pretty package with no gift inside.
On the subject of acting, I think it was quite appropriate for the movie, Cruise delivered his lines like Kubrik intended them. He's the kind of director that you either do it the right way or its the highway. The whole movie is played out like a slow deliberate theater play which ties in with some of the movies imagery concerning charades and masks.
And finally this movie is unapologetically erotic and there is one particular scene were WB used digital characters to cover some actions that would have made the movie NC17, I think this was in poor taste. Not to worry however as a directors cut is sure to come.