Flawed but fascinating

Rating: 7/10 (19 April 2004)

This is a film which divides its audience into those who are fascinated by it and those who are bored stiff.
There's a lot that's good about it. Tom Cruise turns in his usual capable performance, Nicole Kidman her usual brilliant one. The sets are magnificent, reminding one of the huge rooms of The Shining or the emptiness of outer space in 2001. The plot is thought-provoking, with its suggestions of the decadence and corruption of the rich and powerful. The storyline, though long drawn out, is fairly easy to follow and has some sort of resolution at the end.
There are even some light touches - Stanley Kubrick must have know it would be his last film, as there are visual or aural references to most of his previous films, and even a pile of Stanley Kubrick videos in a bedroom scene near the end!
And any film with 3 different shots of Nicole Kidman's bare bottom will get me buying the DVD!
But there are also flaws. It is definitely too long, and would have benefited from losing 20 minutes at least. There are illogical plot developments - e.g. just how did everyone at the orgy know so fast that Bill was there under false pretences? - and how did Mandy recognise him under his mask? Also we learn virtually nothing about Alice and Bill's background other than that she used to own a gallery. And much as I like Nicole Kidman's bottom, I have to acknowledge that its appearances in this film do seem totally gratuitous!
A good film, but it doesn't come anywhere near Kubrick's best. And, by the way, the Region 2 DVD is uncensored, unlike the Region 1 release.