Kubrick's final masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2009)

You've gotta hand it to Kubrick, the man never sold out, no matter how critically acclaimed his films were and no matter how much attention the film industry has paid to him, the man always worked to achieve perfection in every shot of every minute of every film he made in his forty years or so in the business. Eyes wide shut, his last feature, is a prime example of Kubrick's masterful directorial style, though not as critically acclaimed as other films he made such as 2001, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut deserves to be included among these, just showing that right up until the end, Kubrick was still making some of the greatest films ever.
Kubrick's direction is unquestionable, everything about this film is pure class, perfect shots, perfect locations, perfect story, and a perfect cast. I was sceptical about Tom Cruise at first, for reasons other than the obvious that according to the IMDb review submission is a prohibited word, but Cruise gives a great performance here, it is a shame he went on to be in such limp efforts as Valkyrie. Having the patience to work with Kubrick does make me respect Cruise more than I did, as it is common knowledge that Kubrick demanded up to 100 takes in some of his picture, explaining why he only released a catalogue of around 15 films over a forty year period. But Cruise's performance here is definitely the high point of his career, especially so in scenes where he has no dialogue, such as the orgy scene. Cruise wandering around the mansion observing depraved sexual acts while the piano instrumentals help add to the mysterious aura. As well as being the high point of Tom Cruise's career, the orgy scene I would say definitely rivals other famous moments in Kubrick's history in film, the camera moving through the house, its just encaptivating.
On top of Cruise's performance, all others cast in this film were clearly the only people you could cast in the film, perfect actors on perfect form, all roles were played magnificently, Kidman especially. I was unsure about her performance in the scene about half an hour in where Cruise and Kidman's characters were getting stoned together and arguing, but only to slight extent, throughout the film Kidman's role as Alice, the wife with sexual longings makes the plot all the more interesting, what with Cruise's character Bill's investigation into the orgy.
Another noticeable aspect of the film that adds to its impact is the score, the piano based instrumentals serves to add to the tension and the mysterious atmosphere, especially so during the orgy scene. The instrumentals make the film feel dreamlike, its almost as if the viewer is seeing it as though they were stoned. The instrumentals help to suck you into the world of the confused jealous husband, adding to the film's overall impact on the viewer.
The film was controversial at the time of release, but let me just say that if you think that sex and nudity detract from the artistic significance of a film, you're a f******g cretin. Some argue that porn is art, and the sex scenes and especially the orgy in Eyes Wide Shut proves this right. The orgy scene may be pretty daring, but that was the brilliance of Kubrick, there are no boundaries, all he cared about was making an amazing film. It really is a shame that Kubrick's gone from the world of cinema. While so many nowadays pander to the hordes of those who wish to see more limp, badly directed tripe such as the alien vs predator films or god forbid movie parodies like disaster movie and s**t like that. With people like Kubrick gone, we've got very few visionaries left. We've still got Lynch, the Coen Brothers, Cronenberg and others, but more and more people flock to features with no heart in them. While Kubrick's gone, his films remain a testament to his extraordinary directorial style. Eyes Wide shut is a prime example of the director at his best.