Decent, but no masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 1999)

Unfortunately, Stanley Kubrick's last movie was not on the same scale as his classics, in my opinion. I went to the earliest showing on the first day it was released (in San Jose) because I had been waiting in anticipation for quite some time. I wanted to love this movie. Maybe that's my problem; my hopes were too high.
The story revolves around Cruise's character, Bill Hartford, and the sexual quest he goes on after an argument with his wife. During the argument, which is over a difference in opinion about the true sexual desires of men vs. women, Bill's wife Alice (Kidman) tells him about her attempt to have a one-night stand with a naval officer a year ago. If the officer had obliged, she would have risked everything to have sex with him.
This revelation really sets Bill off. The possibility that he was completely wrong about his wife and her unquestioning fidelity drives him mad. Perhaps to avoid a reality quite opposite to the one he was living in (where men are controlled by their desire to have casual sex with many different women and women just want to be married and have sex with their husband) he sets out for an evening of cheap sex. Ironically, his attempts at having affairs don't pan out
The controversial orgy scene is entertaining and a little creepy, but I wonder what the unedited portion would have been like. Maybe that version will make it to the U.S. on video next year. In any case, I won't be surprised if this flick gets great reviews, especially from men, for one or more of the following reasons:
1) Directed by Stanley Kubrick, and his last film, no less. 2) Nicole Kidman has some nude scenes. 3) There is an orgy scene. 3)a. There are many naked women on display in the orgy scene.
All in all I thought it was good, but not great.