all hype---no substance

Rating: 1/10 (25 July 1999)

The people who enjoyed this movie, are in my opinion just Kubrick fans. In other words it wouldn't have mattered whether it was a good or bad film they would have found it "deep and riveting", a true insight to the human condition. All that aside this movie is awful. It's long, boring and totally unmoving. I haven't been to a movie in a long time where I heard so many people complaining as we exited the theater. The critics who rave about this movie are simply praising Kubrick, if anyone else had directed this movie it would have been universally bashed as the awful film it actually is. Fortunately this is America and everyone is entitled to an opinion. I have enjoyed some of his works in the past, especially Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove, but Eyes Wide Shut in my opinion is a sad finish to a career. It's kind of like praising John Wayne for his acting in True Grit when it was actually one of his poorer efforts.