Strange Love

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2009)

Like other Kubrick's films, Eyes Wide Shut is interesting but also a bit of a strange film. Perhaps that is being too definite or even unkind. Most of Stanley Kubrick's films are simply unlike any other. So yes, Eyes Wide Shut is no exception. There are some very bizarre, moments in the movie, but this is precisely what makes it work the way it does. Whatever faults the work may posses, and these too may be debatable, the movie is a memorable and complete work of originality.
Eyes Wide Shut is a classically constructed work that is both very simple but also complex and full of depth. It is mysterious, sexy and also quite funny. While the leads Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman aren't particularly sharp, there are some great performances in the varied cast, mostly from the side characters that pop in from time to time. Rade Serbedzija and Allen Cumming are two of the many standouts.
If you're familiar with the Arthur Schnitzler original novella, you'll find the core story to be very faithful. Without laying out a lengthy synopsis, which this complex film would require, it is safe to say this is essentially a fantasy film. Schnitzler's story confronted the fantasies, temptations and occasional ambiguities of marriage. More to the point, as a plot point in the film eludes to, the notion of fidelity.
The story unfolds in a series of small vignettes, all revolving around the notion of sexual attraction and the fantasy of such. It is never truly made clear of what parts we are seeing could be true, or what could be essentially a fantasy. As the final lines of the book and the movie lay out to us, Some things are real and others are just fantasy. It is a very clever and rich way for a story to unfold. Well that's the idea anyway.
Examining the film's strengths and weaknesses, you may find, there really is no way to find any solid faults. In execution, much like Full Metal Jacket, the movie has an uneven pace of plotting. While Barry Lyndon's deliberate method of story-telling was highly appropriate. The Shining's slow but steady pace also had its advantages. Here in Eyes Wide Shut, I feel the main flaw is the movie could move much faster.
Some individual scenes play out absolutely flat, most of these being the scenes between Cruise and Kidman. But even as they can feel flat, these scenes can also be seen as highlighting the monotony of their married life. But pacing wise, they just don't work. On the other hand, the pace and plotting are far more engaging than the similar, but abominable "Mulholland Drive" from David Lynch.
There are moments of great depth and visual power in this film. I don't see how more original a film can be made in fact. Eyes Wide Shut, I think, is fearless in examining the timeless issue of fidelity. When is fantasy good? When is it dangerous? What conversations with your significant other are better left unsaid? These questions are handled in a much more mature and profound way than the occasional schlock nonsense of a Woody Allen relationship film where people complain for an hour and a half. While Eyes Wide Shut is flawed in some ways, it is also a wonderful and memorable trip worth taking if you have an open mind and aren't expecting Sleepless in Seattle. Uneven but interesting and completely original.