A poor legacy for a great director

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2000)

Eyes Wide Shut, at its basic level, is not a very good film.
Different genres of film traditionally have different associated levels of expected verisimilitude. The degree of acceptable "reality" from a "Star Wars", for example, is understandably different than what one would rightly expect from a "Das Boot". On this level, alone, I felt the characters, situations, reactions, motivations and dialog in "Eyes Wide Shut" to be woefully lacking in a connection to the real world. Not only were the characters themselves unrecognizable as "real" people, their reactions were seemingly random without any firm basis of character. The sub-plots were largely undeveloped and, on a whole, felt askew and contrived. Dialog was stilted and, in many cases, seemed to be more forced soliloquy than conversation. The use of the digitally added "figures" in the infamous orgy scene became so repetitive that it bordered on the comical. (By the way, this was done with much greater dramatic and comical effect in the title sequence of "The Spy Who Shagged Me").
I place much of the blame for the weakness of the work on the screenplay itself. I have not read the novel the story was based upon (nor am I now inclined to do so), but I was left wondering why so many talents were so intent on making this poor film.
To remember Kubrick's greatness, look to his other works, and leave "Eyes Wide Shut" deep in the vault.