The final chapter of the book of Kubrick.

Rating: 7/10 (4 February 2009)

There is no real reason to argue that Stanley Kubrick was one of the finest directors to ever stand behind a camera. From Dr. Strangelove to 2001: A Space Odyssey to Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick was able to polarize and hypnotize the audience with his brilliant composition, camera movement, and incredible storytelling. Here, he explores the human desires to copulate and have intimacy with one another. What is interesting is that this is an issue we all know about and that the movie industry really seems to like, especially these days as practically every film made has a sex scene ore sexual reference in it. For Kubrick, he makes it more of a dream as the plot stretches off into wild and weird sections we weren't expecting and really kind of put us off in a way.
As Tom Cruise's character begins to explore the sexual events that surround him throughout the night, the film feels more and more deliberately slow in pace as well as more strange in tone. I believe Kubrick is doing this intentionally in order to plunge us further in the mindset that Dr. Harford is unaware and confused of the events happening to him. That being said, it feels a bit too long and there are some scenes that don't fit with the rest. The first hour is really strong as we view the marriage bonds between the doctor and his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) strain as they both face temptation. As we follow Bill into this fantasy of sexual desires and obsession, the plot gets weirder and the questions pile up. This is not to say Kubrick doesn't wrap things up but not everything is revealed.
For me, this was not one of Kubrick's many masterpieces. I did admire the film for its insight on the reason of marriage and the ties it requires between two people. It also is very good in its atmosphere and set-up, which Kubrick always did well. However, I couldn't really get into it but that may be the reason behind the motives. For any Kubrick fan, this is worth checking out, but despite it not being up to his other stuff, there are definite traces of a great film here. It is only too unfortunate that he died so soon. One can only imagine what he would have done next.