I am a great fan of Stanley Kubrick's work but

Rating: 2/10 (5 March 2001)

this is no "Dr. Strangelove", nor is it "A[n] Clockwork Orange". It lacks the profundity that it so desperately strives for. When an artist shoots for deep meaning on film and misses, the result isn't pretty.
To my eye, the truest scenes were the most mundane; and the best acting by the child in the family scenes. It may well be that a man hearing his wife's confession would act as did Tom Cruise's character in this film but the bizarre nature of the action failed the Oscar Wilde dictum concerning the willing suspension of disbelief.
Many persons who commented on this movie take pains to say that the story is not about sexual depravity but about the nature of the relationship between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the film. My view is that only exceptional storytellers in rare, inspired moments can tell a story with so little reference to the theme and yet let the audience feel as though they have discovered it for themselves. It can happen, but Kubrick sadly did not attain this in his final work, and the result is that most of the film does not drive the story or explain the theme but is simply excess.
I also agree with many who thought the soundtrack was more annoying than mood-setting.
All in all, I feel that Stanley Kubrick reached for the stars and came up without them, and without even the moon, rather simply with a vacuum.