Not Stanley's best, but still pretty good.

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2003)

Eyes wide shut will be the last piece of greatness we will ever have the privilege of experiencing from Stanley Kubrick. Unfortunately, it was released into a world expecting shallow, brainless thrillers, and pointless vanity pieces from untalented actors and directors. The public at large had no idea what to make of this very fine work when it hit theaters in 1999. "pointless" is the word I kept hearing from anyone who saw it before I did. Such a shame.
Eyes wide shut is like most of Kubrick's work. It flows like a stream happy to be churning along at its own pace. One cannot simply dangle their toes into the water and get a true feeling for it though. You must jump all the way in and let it take you for a ride. That said, I still think the pace of this film was a little too slow. I think the point could have been made, along with all of the emotions being conveyed, in under two hours. Some of the scenes drag out for a few minutes longer than they need to.
The acting was a little stiff, and at times unconvincing. Tom Cruise, however, does and outstanding job. He really carries this film a lot longer than a host of other leading men could have. Kidman really didn't impress me with her performance. She isn't in nearly as many scenes as Cruise, and she comes off as being kind of ditzy in the ones she's in. Not just in the one where they smoke pot. None of the supporting performances are all that memorable either, but they probably weren't meant to be.
The story is what really makes this one so memorable. We see a confident, professional man driven to near madness when his wife admits to fantasizing about leaving him and their child for another man she only saw briefly at a hotel. Cruise is understandably upset by this revelation, and sets out to get laid to spite her with anyone he can find. He wanders the streets for hours, and eventually ends up at some wild orgy at a country mansion. Then, things really get interesting.
The film is like most Kubrick films in that it is technically awesome and emotionally ambiguous. It leaves it up to the viewer to decide what constitutes adultery and what can simply be written off as a harmless dream or fantasy. One could have a conversation with someone else about these issues for hours and hours.
I must take issue with one of the ideas expressed in this film. Kidman's character would have us believe that women are just as much after sex as men, and that they are just as capable of committing adulterous thoughts and actions as men. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! If you women thought about sex or wanted to have sex as mush as us guys, the world would cease to function. That orgy at the country mansion would be happening all over the world non-stop.
Overall, a clever, thoughtful film that should be in any DVD collection. I would stop short of calling it a masterpiece, though. It just falls a little short of that distinction.
ps: There are a lot of hot women in this film. Notice how all of them (including Nicole) are tall with perfect breasts. My compliments to the casting director!
8 of 10 stars
So sayeth the Hound.