A fitting final chapter indeed

Rating: 4/10 (26 July 1999)

EYES WIDE SHUT is a fitting final chapter to the Kubrick filmography, a beautifully crafted, sleekly designed piece of cinema that is ultimately overwhelmed by its faults. Nicole Kidman, while stunningly photographed, has too much screen time. Think of it this way: to have the screen is to have the film. Quite a few people now expect to see her onscreen longer than Gwyneth Paltrow was in SEVEN (a better take on much the same subject, with more at stake), even though this is essentially the same role. But this is not her film. Tom Cruise is uncomfortably out of his realm here. Not uncomfortable performance-wise--he did his best work since BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY--but he's not as believable as Tom Hanks or Cuba Gooding Jr. (the best part of INSTINCT) would be here: imagine them falling from grace! Even Kubrick's original choice, Steve Martin, would have handled the ambiguity and quirks of fate that EYES dishes out with the tenuous restraint and explosive collapse that was needed, and still be able to establish empathy with the audience. In what could have been his VERTIGO, Cruise instead rises to high emotions too soon, especially in a movie that screams "languorous." Which leads to pacing. The strength of Kubrick movies such as 2001, THE SHINING and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is the length of takes, allowing the story to develop before your eyes. But that is the weakness of a movie set in New York--a place where the speed of light isn't fast enough. There are some beautiful moments captured here off the streets--the dreamy orgy scene is fabulously decadent--but the long takes in the middle of the City That Never Sleeps are not true to the setting, ironically the filmmaker's beloved hometown. There are bright spots: Sydney Pollack ratchets the ambiguity level higher, Rade Serbedzija is a twisted masterpiece, Leelee Sobieski is a blackened cherub and Alan Cumming is outright comic perfection. But there are too many misses for each of these hits. I would recommend this film to those who enjoy playing "what if," for if there's nothing else to be said of Kubrick's films, including EYES WIDE SHUT, they were meant to be talked about.
Too bad