Audience Frustration and Heavy Handed Metaphor Bore

Rating: 3/10 (24 August 1999)

Kubrick's over examination of love/sex/jealousy/desire bored me to death. Cruise underacted and Kidman overacted. Lush settings masked poor acting on the part of leads. Senseless side-stories sucked. "Oh, that girl you almost had sex with last night, she has HIV, but I'M available." "Last night I almost killed the men that molested my daughter, but today I offer her to you." "My wife thought about having sex with another man, therefore I must purge the images by obsessing about that orgy my piano buddy told me about." It was all so shallow and callous and cynical, and really gave me no insight into anything. Not to mention the piano crap that Kubrick uses to un-subtly frustrate the audience. And could you show more female genitals? Puh-lease.