Synonymous with fascinating

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 1999)

In all reviews I've read that has been positive to Eyes Wide Shut the same word is repeated over and over. Fascinating. And that is just what it is - endlessly fascinating.
I have been waiting for Eyes Wide Shut since the announcement. So when I sat down in the theater my hopes were high, even though the rave reviews were rather few.
The Harford's goes to party and when they come home Alice reveals a sexual fantasy she's been having. That scene is really Scenes from a Marriage on drugs with a Kubrickian twist. After that it becomes a high class thriller.
Both Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman delivers first rate performances. So do the entire cast, in every minor role. Sydney Pollack is much better suited for the part of Victor Ziegler than Harvey Keitel would be. So is Marie Richardson compared to Jennifer Jason Leigh who was originally casted as Marion.
I would like to give special praise to Marie Richardson and Vanessa Shaw who plays Domino. Both is in the film not much longer than approximately six minutes. But they do so much of their parts.
The acting, the camerawork, the editing, the very effective use of music (and not use of music in some sequences), the solo piano in particular. The intelligent dialogue. The whole film, every little detail.

Eyes Wide Shut is perfection. Eyes Wide Shut is a masterpiece. Stanley Kubrick's last film is perhaps his best.