The most misunderstood film of the decade

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2001)

This movie has been widely hated, even in circles where Kubrick is usually revered. One Salon reviewer even argued that _Eyes Wide Shut_ was a preachy, dogmatic monogamist tract, on the shallow basis that something bad happens to every character that seeks extramarital sex. I couldn't disagree more. The film's final lines suggest both that dreams can be equally as significant as reality, and that a single experience can never define an entire life. Kubrick seems to be saying that a single act of unfaithfulness, whether real or dreamt, does not have to undermine a relationship. Commitment, then, is not a set of arbitrary rules and agreements restricting your partner's sex life, as the Tom Cruise character at first seems to think. This unrealistic, fairy-tale view of his marriage is shattered, plunging him into a surreal, paranoid world of conspiracy and intrigue. By the end, however, he has realized (as his wife already has) that commitment is something renewed from day to day. The film thus points out the dynamic quality of something often considered to be static and constricting, i.e. a marriage, and celebrates commitment without demanding an unrealizable, perfect faithfulness.
Despite many critics' assertions to the contrary, _Eyes Wide Shut_ seems to me to be quintessentially Kubrick in its surrealism, its strong use of color (vibrant reds and purples predominate), and its sophisticated theme. An attentive viewer (unlike the majority of American critics) will see that there is much more to this film than a little supposedly explicit sex. Extra props for Kubrick's ability to create a mood that is magical, erotic, and deeply paranoid -- an achievement that rivals David Lynch's best work.