Comment of EYES WIDE SHUT

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 1999)

I read many user comments about EYES WIDE SHUT in this site and found that they are main divided into two groups: 1) Lots of praising words of the film, director and actors; 2) Trashing it by saying it's long, dull and a disappointment.
I would never be group (2) because I did not feel bored when I saw this movie. Actually EYES WIDE SHUT is like classical music, some people like it and some people (the majority) don't. The people who do not like it think it's long and boring, people who like it would know how to enjoy every second and every note of this film.
There are also many people claiming themselves Mr. Kubrick's fans and are disappointed. They usually compare EYES WIDE SHUT to "Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb", "2001: a space odyssey", "A Clockwork Orange" or even "Full Metal Jacket", and then comment on the actors and pace of this film, pretending they are critics or Kubrick expert. The worst thing is, they read the whole original novel the movie based on just to criticize the adaptation.
I don't want myself to sound like the group (1) praising guys, but I still have something to say as my defense for Mr. Kubrick.
1) Mr. Cruise did act in this movie. People just love to focus on either his face or charm, and says he's a bad actor. Check out his 'reaction' after being pushed by the kids in the street, the silent (beaten) moment after confessing to his wife, the scene in which he waited outside the gate of that orgy house;
2) The actor mostly 'react' (instead of act) the right way, Alan Cumming's character may be is stereotyped, but didn't you ever see a homosexual person act like this? I did;
3) This is just a reminder, many people think that long night journey of Bill Harford happened right after the party, but the fact is he made love with his wife Alice that night (Chris Issak's Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing). They had a normal life for just one day, then the grass started it all;
4) The little interesting details like the front page of the newspaper Bill bought, refers to his 'in the line between life and death' (threaten, HIV) situation, and a lot of them which I don't want to spoil it. (For all the people who haven't see the movie yet)
After all, what a surprising (-ly light) ending and last word.