Long Dark Night Of The Soul

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2002)

I saw this film at a studio preview held for West Coast journalists. The film, much touted and anticipated was, at that time, still an unknown entity. The two main stars, Kidman and Cruise, and its notorious director, Kubrick, brought a huge media buzz to the film, however.

The film is photographed like a painting, and the camera moves like a dancer, gently embracing the characters as they move through the various scenes in the film. The actors, stars and supporting cast, bring depth and honesty to their performances. The one, fatal, tragic misstep in the film is the story.
Cruise's easy manner places him in a situation where his wife suspects him of cheating. This prompts her, in a moment of alcohol driven honesty and angst, to confess to having seriously considered sleeping with a man she saw. This confession has its intended effect, sending Cruise out into the night, at first in anger, then out for revenge.
Cruise is then exposed to a series of sexual opportunities, none of which he pursues. Each one, it seems, brings him closer and closer to death. Even the affable and attractive prostitute he meets, and follows back to her flat, turns out to be a ticking time-bomb of AIDS.
This theme, while a potentially interesting ostinato, becomes instead a clanging harangue that seems pointless and outdated. It is only when Cruise is emotionally, and literally, stripped of his identity and brought to the brink of death, does he wake up enough to realize that his life, and his wife, are both wonderful.
In the end, I felt that his character was, frankly, stupid. Thus, his process of transformation became fundamentally meaningless.