Seeing is Believing

Rating: Null/10 (31 August 1999)

Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" will certainly disappoint anyone who tries to measure up to the hype surrounding the film's sexuality and its real life married stars. The film is not especially erotic for good reasons: Kubrick was perhaps battling his own private obsessions and prefers to explore the emotional bonds that unite couples and the deception they sometimes go at great length to mask their own insecurities, fears and shortcomings.
Nicole Kidman's nakedly, ferocious performance is aptly counterbalanced by Tom Cruise's tormented and doubtful everyman wrestling with his seven year itch. Her monologue recounting a near love affair is arguably the film's highpoint. Still the paying public will expect more shedding of clothes from these headliners than they have been led to believe--courtesy of the press no less. While Kubrick's masterful handling of nudity is nowhere as shocking as Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" (remember Julianne Moore?), it is nonetheless effective in evoking the decaying and sick environment populated by his characters (especially the use of yellows and burnished tones). For the film to really work it is best to accept some of its contrivances such as the use of coincidences to advance the plot or cliches involving prostitutes with hearts of gold and eschew naturalism and logic for something surreal and nightmarish.
"Eyes Wide Shut" unfortunately is Kafka played straight without the sensual or perverse sensibilities of Bunuel to help propel this somewhat dated and overworked genre into another level. Whatever its faults "Eyes Wide Shut" will perhaps be remembered best as one of Kubrick's most humane and moral work--minus the plethora of icy cold characters of years' past.