look closer...

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2001)

Eyes Wide Shut is not your ordinary story. No simple exposition, no rising actions, no real climax to speak of, and one of the most awkward conclusions I've ever seen. But if you've seen Stanley Kubrick's films you know that he doesn't direct a story, he directs a theme. The theme of Eyes Wide Shut is sex and control.
To summarize the plot, (or rather, oversimplify) Tom Cruise plays a doctor named Bill, who goes on jealousy-driven quest for sexual retribution after his (hot) wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) heartlessly informs him that she has had explicit fantasies about another man. What further ensues is something only a guy can understand and sympathize with(sorry ladies, but this film is clearly directed at us men).
Here's the crux of this movie. When Alice describes her fantasy to her husband, it's more to her than just a fleeting attraction, more than a lingering lustful fancy, it's control. She basically tells him that she can make a fool out of her husband by cheating on him, and there's nothing he can do about it. She emasculates him and renders him powerless (what a b*tch). It's not so much that she fantasized about a total stranger that bothers Bill, it's how much that fantasy captured his wife. This is one of the most riveting and disturbing sequences for a guy, ever caught on film (second only to the `squeal-like-a-pig scene in Deliverance). The way this scene is done, it seems worse than hearing that your wife of 20 years has faked every orgasm, fantasizes about your brother while making love to you, and is now leaving you for another woman. Kubrick, Cruise, and Kidman do this scene so well, nothing in reality can touch it.
From there, Dr. Bill launches a late night reconnaissance for his masculinity as defined by his sexuality. He purchases a hooker, but doesn't follow through. His conscience deals another blow to his male ego. He gets harassed by a group of thugs who call him `faggot' and play him gay. Yet another blow. Desperate to one-up his wife's virtual folly, he sneaks in to an exclusive, ritualistic orgy (this sequence gave me the creeps for days). He gets caught after sneaking in and is humiliated in front of the whole orgy party. Once again, his sense of control and ego are dealt another bruise.
The next morning, Dr. Bill revisits most all the people and places of the night before and discovers the illusion of validation and control by way of sex.
What I loved about the film is how Kubrick subtly sprinkles sex and erotica throughout the scenery. The party scene early in the film has hanging Christmas lights seemingly unintentionally arranged to resemble breasts and nipples, or pairs of spread legs. Dr. Bill cares for a bare-chested female patient. Though innocent in nature, the viewer can't help but become aroused by exposed breasts and the idea of `playing doctor' with that beautiful patient. And it's no mistake that the carpet, the dresses, the pool table, the neon lights, the curtains at the orgy. . . everything is RED. Wonderful!
See this film. Do not see it for the plot, the fast-paced dialogue and action, or the intriguing story line in the sense of a tradional film, because you will be disappointed If you really want to see the value in Eyes Wide Shut, you have to look closer. . .