Sumptuous, gorgeous but lacking substance

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2002)

I approached this movie with some trepidation - on the one hand it had been slated in reviews by critics. On the other hand... it's Stanley Kubrick. You know the director with 6 of his movies in the Top 250, and the director at #12 in the overall best ranking (and even higher if you discount tv media, which is also included on the list).
Is it any good? That's a difficult question. The principal problem is that "Eyes Wide Shut" lacks substance, i.e. a plot. The premise is that Tom Cruise's character, William Harford, goes through a rough patch of exploring himself, and his notions of sexuality, after his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), admits to having a vivid fantasy involving a man she saw at a hotel once. On his way he gets wrapped up in the events of a mysterious group who conduct, among other things, masked orgies. The trouble with a lack of plot is that the film tends to meander along, not seeming to go anywhere. Yes, it's obviously exploring some concepts as it goes along, but the way William cruise's (ho ho) along makes you ask yourself, "What's the point of this?" You're left with little to grasp, except lingering notions.
How's the acting? Cruise puts in one of his better performances here, and you do get the idea he is genuinely haunted by the image of his wife Alice's erotic fantasies. Kidman is under-used, although it's nice to see her beauty contrasted with typically mundane acts such as going to the toilet. However the chemistry between the two is quite cold and their scenes together lack passion and vibrancy. It's made forgivable due to the film's premise, but there is still a certain something vital missing that undermines their relationship (ironic considering they were married at the time of filming).
So what's good about it? It looks great, which is absolutely no surprise. The costumes, the set-pieces are all excellent. There's a nice subdued atmosphere to the movie - the orgy scene, for example, is viewed somewhat afar, never scrutinised too closely, as Cruise wanders around exploring the house and, in turn, himself. There's nice uses of wide camera lens to take in as much of a view as possible and the music that accompanies sceneries works effectively. Lightning, camera-work, all done to the standards we expect. Even though the film clocks in at an above average 159 minutes, the editing is done in such a manner that the journey never feels jarred, or distorted. The finale is quite abrupt but, at the same time, drives home the point of the movie.
"Eyes Wide Shut" is a hard movie to judge. It lacks a certain something. It does have some interesting concepts on the other hand, that a marriage, or love, doesn't mean you have to committed body & soul to someone 100% of the time, and that it shouldn't fail over the smallest slip into infidelity. It looks rich, but is let down a little by a passionless marriage. A hard one to call so I'll pencil it at a 7.2/10.