+ style - substance

Rating: 1/10 (17 July 1999)

OK I would just like to say that I am enraged at the acclaim some are giving this film. It was all style and no substance. Silence does not equal good film making. It just means the director has no qualms about ejaculating whatever crap he wants to onto the screen. The long drawn out pauses and sparse/piercing soundtrack might work in films like Shining and 2001 but they become distracting, even comical in EYES WIDE SHUT. One cannot rely on the same tired tricks to propel one's self through an entire career. This film needs to be judged on its own and not in relation to Kubrick's canon. It makes me sick to hear critics revere this work simply because it came from a man who has done well in the past. This film was not cryptic not mysterious not thought provoking and not even sexy. Far from a masterpiece and a poor display for Kubrick's final outing.