Not what it could have been

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 1999)

While this movie clearly does have a sub-text of the relationship between love, sex, lust and marriage, it lacks a viable plot. Everything that happens to Mr Cruise is certainly explores different aspects to seedy underground sex. The main problem with this movie is that it showed little of the motivation for Cruise's travels: the relationship between him and his wife is never properly shown; the love there is never clear. As a result, the viewer isn't interested in how far Cruise is willing to go to satsify his craving; that said, what is his craving? Revenge? Desire? Curiosity? This is only ever hinted at in a short piece of black and white, and it isn't convincing. Kubrick's essential point in this movie is no doubt that society seems to be heading along the Babylonian track. Fine. But to spend 3 hours telling us about it, without an interesting plot, is self-indulgent, and really this film should have been edited. P.S. The camera work was OK, but there is better out there.