Let's Just Forget That This Film Exists and Remember All The Good Kubrick & Cruise Did In The Past

Rating: Null/10 (9 September 1999)

What a grand masterplan Kubrick unleashed: Make his worst movie ever, then set the release so far into the future that he dies before it comes out to terrible reviews and bad word of mouth.
You've REALLY gotta be a Kubrick fan in order to appreciate the slow, languid pace that this film takes and to spot some of his trademark shot stagings, i.e. a quick ZOOM IN to the masked woman on the terrace looks like the ZOOM IN to Alex as the droogs beat him up in CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

The film lags badly in the beginning, and, of course, Warner Bros. being the dolts that they are, hyped the WRONG part of the movie, which was Tom and Nicole's sex scenes, which were obviously considerably cut. In the middle, the film picks up some form of momentum and gets interesting, culminating in the weird as hell yet interesting masked orgy in the castle-looking house (which was obviously a London set piece, where in NY would you FIND a place like that?). Then it tapers off into one of the most anticlimactic endings ever.
Nicole Kidman was great during her monologue in the beginning but is so underused by Kubrick except to oggle at. Tom Cruise was okay in his performance, but someone else should've been picked to better accentuate his descent into this dream-pervading-reality hell. More judicious editing would've made this a better film. I've never seen "BARRY LYNDON" and I don't agree with most Kubrick critics on "THE SHINING", but I think this is Kubrick's least effective film ever. Very disappointing. Let's just forget that this film exists and remember all the good Kubrick & Cruise did in the past. Rating: C-