The last gasp of a dying old man.

Rating: Null/10 (3 September 2002)

To start I would like to say that I am a BIG Kubrick fan. "Full Metal Jacket" for instance blew Platoon out of the water.
The man was a genius. But with EWS what was he thinking. Selfindulgent (nothing new for Kubrick) and plodding (again nothing new).
But I must say this unlike other Kubrick flicks was bad for one main reason the Cinematography was just awful. Usually the trademark of a Kubrick picture is his magnificent use of color and contrast (2001, Clockwork, Barry Lyndon). This was just terrible. Tom Cruise's Black suit looks almost gray from all the grain in some shots and in others looks perfect indicating that a large amount of time passed between takes and some assistant was not keeping proper records or lighting. The acting was bad. Kubrick's films because of their pace don't lend themselves well to American actors who are used to quick pace MTV style editing.
Kubrick's swan song was terribly disappointing to a man who spent the bulk of his life reinventing cinema. One out of Four stars.