Don't let the negative responses fool you, this film is incredible

Rating: Null/10 (27 February 2000)

Instead of checking IDs at the theatre or the rental store when someone wants to see this movie, they should really ask the person the following question: Can you define what the title "Eyes Wide Shut" means? If the person is able to give a sensible answer, then they should be allowed to see the film. If they can't, then they should be told "Sorry, this isn't for you."
What "Eyes Wide Shut" means, of course, is what we choose in life to ignore. Things we know darn well are true, but make us so uncomfortable that we ignore them and pretend they don't exist.
When I was in college, there was a professor who everyone knew demanded sex in return for good grades from some of his female students. No one would do anything about the situation. The truth was too uncomfortable. Everyone from the top administrators on down had their eyes wide shut to the problem.
Homeless people are only homeless because they choose to be. Women who are raped were probably asking for it. People working in sweatshops for 50 cents a day really don't need that much money anyway and are doing just fine.
Oh, yes. The movie. Tom Cruise's character has his eyes wide shut to many things in his marriage and in the world around him. A stray comment by his wife opens Tom's eyes for a while. He sees things in the world around him that he'd really rather not see. Will he keep his eyes wide open? Or will he shut them again?
That is what the movie is about. And what an incredible movie it is, too.