Interesting but unpleasant

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 1999)

I was captivated by Eyes Wide Shut. It progresses at a deliberate pace but maintained my interest with its psychological tension. I think that Cruise and Kidman did well in the featured roles, and that overall the film was well done.
However, I did not enjoy the movie as much as I would have liked. I felt little sympathy for the protagonist (Mr. Harford). It was apparent that he was aware of the dubious character of Mr. Seigel (sp?) and his associates (the costume shopkeeper or the guests at the country manor party), e.g., he walks in on a sweaty Seigel who is pulling up his pants while a model lies naked and unconscious in the introductory scene. Mr. Harford's character is shown as being aware of these situations yet he implicitly or explicitly helps the apparent aggressors, e.g., he treats the model and admonishes her for her carelessness. Is this meant to show that he has his "eyes wide shut" in a "see no evil" frame of mind? As the film progresses, we see that Mr. Harford's complicity gets him into some troubling situations, but in the final analysis, he does not suffer from it. Maybe I am reading too much into the film, but I wonder what Kubrick is getting at here. I would prefer a film that presents characters "not as they are, but as they should be."