It Doesn't Disappoint But It Does Frustrate

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2011)

Part of the Stanley Kubrick collection of movies (and, indeed, the last in the Kubrick collection) and starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (when they were themselves a happily married couple), "Eyes Wide Shut" doesn't disappoint, but it does frustrate a bit. It's an erotic thriller of sorts, and as such it manages to accomplish most of what you'd expect such a film to do. It IS erotic. It is very much about sex and sexuality and hidden desires and how they affect the relationships we have with those around us. There is a LOT of nudity in this - but somehow, the nudity didn't seem either gratuitous or exploitative. It was natural to this story; indeed, the story wouldn't have worked at all without the nudity. So the nudity involved (which featured a significant amount of Nicole Kidman) doesn't seem intended to titillate (although one can't really complain about a virtual parade of beautiful and often completely naked women) but rather it focuses the story and moves it along. As a thriller, it doesn't really thrill. It's more of a mystery - and it's a pretty good one there as well. There's really no strong sense of where this is going or of what the point of it is, aside from following Dr. Harford (Cruise) on his 24 hours or so of almost (but never quite) debauchery while his wife (Kidman) stays at home sleeping and looking after their daughter. In that sense it does manage to hold your attention very well. You want to know what this is about. What is this seemingly semi-pagan sex club that Harford stumbles upon; who are the people involved in it; are there going to be any repercussions for Harford and his family. In all those ways this is very good and very interesting. But ...
As good as it is in almost every way, in the end this movie frustrates because it never really answers anything. The mysteries are all left standing at the end. We never really do find out much about the "club" or the people in it, except that they're apparently powerful people who don't want to be known. Harford and his wife seem to put things back together in the end, but we don't really know if there are any lasting repercussions from the adventure of the preceding 24 hours. We don't really know. In the end, that left me feeling a little bit cheated. I wanted to know more about what had happened. I understand that the story had been about the struggles in the relationship of Harford and his wife more than about the "adventure" itself, but most of the movie was tied up with the adventure. Something in the end seemed missing from this.
It's a good movie. Good story; good directing; good performances. I have no arguments about any of that. In the end, though, it just left me unsatisfied. (7/10)