A great finale to a great career

Rating: 9/10 (15 August 2001)

This highly anticipated film by Stanley Kubrick (his previous one was Full Metal Jacket, back in 1987) was also unfortunately his last. Tom Cruise plays Dr. Bill Harford who, after getting into an argument with his wife Alice (played by his real wife at the time, Nicole Kidman) concerning one of her adulterous fantasies, wanders through the night, encountering various sexual temptations of his own, and ending up almost participating in a secret orgy of the rich and the powerful in a giant mansion. Eyes Wide Shut is an impeccably crafted and hypnotically paced meditation on the temptations and trials that can stand in the way of marital fidelity. In contrast to the many superficial films about love and sex that come out from Hollywood, Kubrick's film offers a profound and thoughtful look at marriage, love, and sex. Although the film features a lot of nudity, they are shot in an objective, "matter of fact" fashion, instead of to titillate its viewers. Overall, Eyes Wide Shut is a beautiful "swan song" to a very distinguished career of Stanley Kubrick.